Soyuz 8

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Mission dates
Mission: Soyuz 8
COSPAR-ID : 1969-087A
Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-OK (A) ( GRAU index  11F615)
serial number 16
Dimensions: 6646 kg
Launcher: Soyuz (GRAY index 11A511)
Call sign: Гранит (" granite ")
Crew: 2
Begin: October 13, 1969, 10:19:09  UTC
Starting place: Baikonur 31/6
Space station: Soyuz 7
Landing: October 18, 1969, 09:09:58 UTC
Landing place: 145 km north of Karaganda
51 ° N, 72 ° E
Flight duration: 4d 22h 50min 49s
Earth orbits: 80
Rotation time : 88.7 min
Apogee : 227 km
Perigee : 201 km
◄ Before / After ►
Soyuz 7
(manned) 		Soyuz 9
(manned)

Soyuz 8 is the mission name for the flight of a Soviet Soyuz spaceship that started on October 13, 1969 . It was the 16th flight in the Soviet Soyuz program.

crew

Originally, Nikolayev and Sevastyanov were planned as the crew. Kuklin , Grechko , Chrunow and Kolodin were nominated as substitutes for Soyuz 6, Soyuz 7 and Soyuz 8 . In the summer of 1969, however, there were significant changes. After a centrifuge test, Kuklin was classified as unfit to fly and Chrunow was taken out of the team because of a car accident with a hit and run. Nikolayev did not convince during the training and was replaced in August by Shatalov, also the flight engineer Sevastyanow by Jelissejew.

Schatalow and Jelissejew had only carried out the successful double flight of Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 in January . At that time, Shatalov was the only cosmonaut who had a coupling in space.

On October 8, Shatalov was appointed commander of the spaceship association, and he was also the replacement commander of Soyuz 6 and Soyuz 7 .

Substitute team

Nikolayev and Sevastyanov later became the crew of the long Soyuz 9 flight .

The team began their training on April 10, 1969.

preparation

After the successful double flight of Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5, a triple flight with Soyuz 6 , Soyuz 7 and Soyuz 8 was planned for the first time . In contrast to the previous mission, there was no change from one spaceship to the other. What was new was that coupling and decoupling should be filmed from a third spaceship. The contact device was initially intended as the approach system. However, since this was not yet finished, the existing Igla approach system was used. Schatalow had campaigned for an approach with hand control, but could not prevail, especially because the Soyuz spaceships were not designed for visual orientation.

During the preparation for this flight, the USA managed the first manned moon landing with Apollo 11 ; on three flights, astronauts had transferred from the Apollo spacecraft through a tunnel to the lunar module.

Never before had three spaceships been in space at the same time. With regard to track tracking and radio traffic, this made new demands on the Soviet ground stations. As usual, radio communication was via VHF while the spaceships were over the Soviet Union, otherwise via shortwave . In a later phase of the mission, the Molnija 1 satellite was used for the first time , as was the communications ship cosmonaut Vladimir Komarow .

In September there was a dysentery epidemic in Baikonur. The cosmonauts stayed in isolated areas and only people who showed no symptoms were allowed to approach them.

Mission history

begin

Immediately after Soyuz 6 launched on October 11, the launch pad for Soyuz 8 was made ready while Soyuz 7 launched from a neighboring facility. On October 13th a problem arose when the crew boarded the spacecraft: when the cosmonauts closed the hatch between the landing module and the orbital module, one of the three spokes on the stiff handwheel broke off. But since the hatch closed airtight, this was not an obstacle for the start.

Shatalov and Jelissejew started on October 13, 1969 with Soyuz 8 after Soyuz 6 and Soyuz 7 were already in space. This was the first time that three spaceships and seven space travelers were in space at the same time. Various earth observations were carried out on the first day of the flight.

Unsuccessful coupling maneuver

With various course corrections, the orbits of the three spaceships were adjusted. Kubassow in Soyuz 6 and Jelissejew in Soyuz 8 used a new sextant to determine the orbit independently of the ground stations.

The rendezvous on October 14th went smoothly at first. The orbits should bring all three spaceships about 500 m apart. The Igla approach system in Soyuz 8 was then supposed to reduce the distance to Soyuz 7 to about 100 m. Shatalov was supposed to carry out the final maneuvers and the coupling with manual control.

However, the Igla system did not work properly and could not properly lock the target spaceship. After Schatalow had waited a long time for the flight control to be released, Schatalow finally attempted a manual approach. However, the cosmonauts had no way of measuring the distance or the approach speed. This attempt was canceled because too much fuel was consumed and because the spaceships moved out of the VHF range of the ground stations for a long time, so that the day passed unused.

On the following day, October 15, the distance had unexpectedly increased to 40 km, so that more time passed before the orbits could be precisely determined and the necessary course corrections calculated. When Soyuz 8 was only 1,700 m away from Soyuz 7, Schatalow started the rendezvous by hand control. This time too, the maneuver had to be canceled.

Although Soyuz 6 was not equipped with an Igla system or a coupling adapter, Schonin and Kubassow also tried to get closer, but also unsuccessfully.

Even after the triple flight failed and Soyuz 6 landed on October 16, Soyuz 8 tried unsuccessfully to approach and couple. Nevertheless, during these days valuable experiences could be made about the visibility of spaceships and the optical transmission of messages.

Soyuz 7 landed on October 17th, after which only Soyuz 8 was in space. Now a final experiment has been carried out: a connection between Soyuz 8 and the ground station via the Molnija 1 satellite , which was in an elliptical orbit with a high incline. As a result, it was visible from the Soviet Union for a long time during its orbit. It was hoped that this relay would improve communication, because previously the VHF connections for six to seven rounds per day were not possible.

landing

The return to earth took place on October 18th. The hatch between the orbital and landing module could be closed safely despite the broken spoke. The ad in the spaceship stated that the Soyuz engine burned 4 seconds too short, but the landing went as planned, albeit in a snowstorm.

Effects

The cause of Igla's failure has never been determined. It is believed that the helium-filled electronics containers in the orbital module were not completely leak-proof. Since the orbital module does not return to Earth, this could never be confirmed or refuted.

The triple flight was officially rated as a success, a coupling or even a change was never publicly announced as a destination. Internally, however, it was clear that the mission was a failure. The Igla approach system had proven to be a weak point. In the event of a malfunction, there was no reliable way to safely control and couple the spaceships by hand. Nevertheless, Igla should also be used for the approach to the planned Salyut 1 space station .

Shatalov and Jelissejew were now the most experienced Soviet cosmonauts with two flights and 8 and 7 days in space, respectively, but at this point 16 US astronauts had spent more time in space, Jim Lovell even 24 days with three flights. The next objective of the Soviets was a long-term flight with Soyuz 9 and the launch of a space station, with Almas and DOS still two competing types.

Others

The photographs that were taken during the mission have not yet been published.

literature

  • Asif A. Siddiqi: Challenge to Apollo: The Soviet Union And The Space Race 1945- 1974. NASA History Division, Washington DC 2000.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ www.x-libri.ru: Kamanin diaries, entry from October 6, 1969 (Russian)