Salyut 7

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Salyut 7
Mission Insignia
Salyut insignia
Salyut 7 station
Salyut 7
Mission Statistics
Mission name: Salyut 7
Call sign: Salyut 7
Launch: April 19, 1982
19:45:00 UTC
Baikonur,
U.S.S.R
Reentry: February 7, 1991
Crews: 6 long duration
4 short duration
Occupied: 816 days
In orbit: 3,216 days
Number of
orbits:
51,917
Apogee: 173 mi (278 km)
Perigee: 136 mi (219 km)
Period: 89.2 min
Inclination 51.6 deg
Distance
traveled:
~1,308,792,358 mi
(~2,106,297,129 km)
Orbital mass: 19,000 kg
Salyut 7 space station
Salyut 7 space station

Salyut 7 (Салют-7) was launched on April 19, 1982, the last of the Salyut space station program. It was the back-up vehicle for Salyut 6 and very similar in equipment and capabilities. With delays to the Mir programme it was decided to launch the back-up vehicle as Salyut 7. In orbit the station suffered a number of technical failures though it benefited from the improved payload capacity of the visiting Progress and Soyuz craft and the experience of its crews who improvised many solutions. In September 1983 a fuel line ruptured requiring EVAs by the Soyuz T-10 to repair. It was aloft for four years and two months, during which time it was visited by 10 crews constituting 6 main expeditions and 4 secondary flights (including French and Indian cosmonauts). Also saw two flights of Svetlana Savitskaya making her the second woman in space since 1963 and the first to perform an EVA. Aside from the many experiments and observations made on Salyut 7, the station also tested the docking and use of large modules with an orbiting space station. The modules were called "Heavy Cosmos modules" though in reality were variants of the TKS spacecraft intended for the cancelled Almaz military space station. They helped engineers develop technology necessary to build Mir. Salyut 7 deorbited on February 7, 1991.

It had two docking ports, one on either end of the station, to allow docking with the Progress unmanned resupply craft, and a wider front docking port to allow safer docking with a Heavy Cosmos module. It carried three solar panels, two in lateral and one in dorsal longitudinal positions, but they now had the ability to mount secondary panels on their sides. Internally, the Salyut 7 carried electric stoves, a refrigerator, constant hot water and redesigned seats at the command console (more like bicycle seats). Two portholes were designed to allow ultraviolet light in, to help kill infections. Further, the medical, biological and exercise sections were improved, to allow long stays in the station. The BST-1M telescope used in Salyut 6 was replaced by an X-ray detection system.

Contents

[edit] Crews and missions

Salyut7 with docked spacecraft
Salyut7 with docked spacecraft
TKS 3 and Salyut 7
TKS 3 and Salyut 7

Following up the use of Cosmos 1267 on Salyut 6, the Soviets launched Cosmos 1443 on March 2, 1983, from a Proton SL-13. It docked with the station on March 10, and was used by the crew of Soyuz T-9. It jettisoned its recovery module on August 23, and re-entered the atmosphere on September 19. Cosmos 1686 was launched on September 27, 1985, docking with the station on October 2. It did not carry a recovery vehicle, and remained connected to the station for use by the crew of Soyuz T-14. Ten Soyuz T crews operated in Salyut 7. Only two InterCosmos "guest cosmonauts" worked in Salyut 7. The first attempt to launch Soyuz T-10 was aborted on the launch pad when a fire broke out at the base of the vehicle. The payload was ejected, and the crew was recovered safely.

Salyut 7 had six resident crews.

There were also four visiting missions, crews which came to bring supplies and make shorter duration visits with the resident crews.

[edit] Salyut 7 expeditions

Expedition Crew Launch date Flight up Landing date Flight down Duration (days)
Salyut 7 - EO-1 Anatoli Berezovoy,
Valentin Lebedev
May 13, 1982
09:58:05 UTC
Soyuz T-5 December 10, 1982
19:02:36 UTC
Soyuz T-7 211.38
Salyut 7 - EP-1 Vladimir Dzhanibekov,
Aleksandr Ivanchenkov,
Jean-Loup Chrétien - France
June 24, 1982
16:29:48 UTC
Soyuz T-6 July 2, 1982
14:20:40 UTC
Soyuz T-6 7.91
Salyut 7 - EP-2 Leonid Popov,
Aleksandr Serebrov,
Svetlana Savitskaya
August 19, 1982
17:11:52 UTC
Soyuz T-7 August 27, 1982
15:04:16 UTC
Soyuz T-5 7.91
Salyut 7 - EO-2 Vladimir Lyakhov,
Aleksandr Pavlovich Aleksandrov
June 27, 1983
09:12:00 UTC
Soyuz T-9 November 23, 1983
19:58:00 UTC
Soyuz T-9 149.45
Salyut 7 - EO-3 Leonid Kizim,
Vladimir Solovyov,
Oleg Atkov
February 8, 1984
12:07:26 UTC
Soyuz T-10 October 2, 1984
10:57:00 UTC
Soyuz T-11 236.95
Salyut 7 - EP-3 Yuri Malyshev,
Gennady Strekalov,
Rakesh Sharma - India
April 3, 1984
13:08:00 UTC
Soyuz T-11 April 11, 1984
10:48:48 UTC
Soyuz T-10 7.90
Salyut 7 - EP-4 Vladimir Dzhanibekov,
Svetlana Savitskaya,
Igor Volk
July 17, 1984
17:40:54 UTC
Soyuz T-12 July 29, 1984
12:55:30 UTC
Soyuz T-12 11.80
Salyut 7 - EO-4-1a Viktor Savinykh June 6, 1985
06:39:52 UTC
Soyuz T-13 November 21, 1985
10:31:00 UTC
Soyuz T-14 168.16
Salyut 7 - EO-4-1b Vladimir Dzhanibekov June 6, 1985
06:39:52 UTC
Soyuz T-13 September 26, 1985
09:51:58 UTC
Soyuz T-13 112.13
Salyut 7 - EP-5 Georgi Grechko September 17, 1985
12:38:52 UTC
Soyuz T-14 September 26, 1985
09:51:58 UTC
Soyuz T-13 8.88
Salyut 7 - EO-4-2 Vladimir Vasyutin,
Alexander Volkov
September 17, 1985
12:38:52 UTC
Soyuz T-14 November 21, 1985
10:31:00 UTC
Soyuz T-14 64.91
Salyut 7 - EO-5 Leonid Kizim,
Vladimir Solovyov
March 13, 1986
12:33:09 UTC
Soyuz T-15 July 16, 1986
12:34:05 UTC
Soyuz T-15 125.00
50 on S7

[edit] Salyut 7 spacewalks

Spacecraft Spacewalker Start - UTC End - UTC Duration Comments
Salyut 7 - PE-1 - EVA 1 Lebedev & Berezevoi July 30, 1982,
02:39
July 30, 1982,
05:12
2 h, 33 min Retrieve experiments
Salyut 7 - PE-2 - EVA 1 Lyakhov & Alexandrov Nomember 1, 1983,
04:47
Nomember 1, 1983,
07:36
2 h, 50 min Add solar array
Salyut 7 - PE-2 - EVA 2 Lyakhov & Alexandrov November 3, 1983,
03:47
November 3, 1983,
06:62
2 h, 55 min Add solar array
Salyut 7 - PE-3 - EVA 1 Kizim & Solovyov April 23, 1984,
04:31
April 23, 1984,
08:46
4 h, 20 min ODU repair
Salyut 7 - PE-3 - EVA 2 Kizim & Solovyov April 26, 1984,
02:40
April 26, 1984,
07:40
4 h, 56 min Repair ODU
Salyut 7 - PE-3 - EVA 3 Kizim & Solovyov April 29, 1984,
01:35
April 29, 1984,
04:20
2 h, 45 min Repair ODU
Salyut 7 - PE-3 - EVA 4 Kizim & Solovyov May 3, 1984,
23:15
May 4, 1984,
02:00
2 h, 45 min Repair ODU
Salyut 7 - PE-3 - EVA 4 Kizim & Solovyov May 18, 1984,
17:52
May 18, 1984,
20:57
3 h, 05 min Add solar array
Salyut 7 - VE-4 - EVA 5 Savitskaya & Dzhanibekov July 25, 1984,
14:55
July 25, 1984,
18:29
3 h, 35 min First woman EVA
Salyut 7 - PE-3 - EVA 6 Kizim & Solovyov August 8, 1984,
08:46
August 8, 1984,
13:46
5 h, 00 min Complete ODU repair
Salyut 7 - PE-4 - EVA 1 Dzhanibekov & Savinykh August 2, 1985,
07:15
August 2, 1985,
12:15
5 h, 00 min Augment solar arrays
Salyut 7 - PE-6 - EVA 1 Kizim & Solovyov May 28, 1986,
05:43
May 28, 1986,
09:33
3 h, 50 min Test truss, retrieve samples
Salyut 7 - PE-6 - EVA 2 Kizim & Solovyov May 31, 1986,
04:57
May 31, 1986,
09:57
5 h, 00 min Test truss

[edit] Specifications

  • Length - about 16 m
  • Maximum diameter - 4.15 m
  • Habitable volume - 90 m³
  • Weight at launch - 19,824 kg
  • Launch vehicle - Proton (three-stage)
  • Orbital inclination - 51.6°
  • Span across solar arrays - 17 m
  • Area of solar arrays - 51 m²
  • Number of solar arrays - 3
  • Electricity available - 4.5 kW
  • Resupply carriers - Soyuz-T, Progress, TKS
  • Number of docking ports - 2
  • Total manned missions - 12
  • Total unmanned missions - 15
  • Total long-duration missions - 6
  • Number of main engines - 2
  • Main engine thrust (each) - 2.9 kN

[edit] Visiting spacecraft and crews

(Launched crews. Spacecraft launch and landing dates listed.)

  • TKS 2 - March 4 - August 14, 1983 - Launched unmanned as Cosmos 1443.
  • TKS 3 - September, 1985 - February 7, 1991 - Launched unmanned as Cosmos 1686. Featured a high-resolution photo apparatus and optical sensor experiments (infrared telescope and Ozon spectrometer).

[edit] See also

[edit] References


Salyut Program Salyut Insignia
Salyut 1 | Salyut 4 | Salyut 6 | Salyut 7
Almaz Program
Salyut 2 | Salyut 3 | Salyut 5
Preceded by
Salyut 6
Salyut programme
1982–1991
Succeeded by
Mir