Soyuz T-15

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Mission dates
Mission: Soyuz T-15
COSPAR-ID : 1986-022A
Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-ST (GRAY index 11F732)
serial number 21L
Dimensions: 6850 kg
Launcher: Soyuz U2 ( GRAY index  11A511U2)
Call sign: Маяк (Mayak - " beacon ")
Crew: 2
Begin: March 13, 1986, 12:33:09  UTC
Starting place: Baikonur 1/5
Space station: Me
Coupling: March 15, 1986, 13:38:42 UTC
Decoupling: July 16, 1986, 09:09:50 UTC
Landing: July 16, 1986, 12:34:05 UTC
Landing place: 55 km NE of Arkalik
Flight duration: 125d 0h 0m 56s
Earth orbits: 1980
Rotation time : 91.5 min
Apogee : 366 km
Perigee : 331 km
◄ Before / After ►
Soyuz T-14
(manned) 		Soyuz TM-1
(unmanned)
Next manned mission:
Soyuz TM-2

Soyuz T-15 is the mission name for the flight of a Soviet Soyuz spaceship to the Soviet Mir and Salyut 7 space stations , which was launched on March 13, 1986 . It was the first Soyuz spacecraft visit to the Mir space station, the tenth to Salyut 7 and the 76th flight in the Soviet Soyuz program. The first mission to Mir was the designation Mir EO-1 , and the fifth long-term crew of Salyut 7 was Salyut 7 EO-5 .

crew

Main team

Kisim and Solowjow had previously formed the third long-term crew Salyut 7 EO-3 together with Oleg Atkow and were able to return to space flight after one and a half years.

Substitute team

Viktorenko and Alexandrov were previously on the substitute team for Salyut 7 EO-4 . You were not nominated for the main team for this following mission, but reassigned as a substitute team.

situation

The Soviet Union had two space stations in orbit in the spring of 1986. Salyut 7 station had been in orbit since April 1982 and had four long-term crews and five visiting crews. In October 1985, the station was greatly expanded by coupling the Kosmos 1686 module . The last mission had to be terminated prematurely in November 1985 due to illness of the commander. There were many devices on board this space station that had only been brought in for the fourth crew.

The new Mir space station was launched in February 1986 , but no crew had come on board. The next manned space flight should now visit both space stations.

Mission history

Start and pairing

The launch took place on March 13, 1986 from the Baikonur spaceport in the Kazakh SSR . Two days later the spaceship docked with the Mir. Originally it was planned that it should touch the front coupling piece to keep the rear one free for Progress transporters. Because as with Salyut 6 and 7, the Mir's fuel lines were at the far end of the station.

However, this is where an incompatibility of the proximity systems came into play. Like all Soyuz-T spacecraft , the Soyuz T-15 was equipped with the Igla system . However, the front port of Mir had already installed the course successor system. Therefore, Soyuz T-15 approached the space station from behind, where an Igla system was also in place. The approach took place fully automatically, but at a distance of 200 m Kisim and Solowjow broke off the approach and steered the spaceship by hand around the station and coupled to the front port.

Over the next few days and weeks, Kisim and Solowjow put the Mir systems into operation. Food, fuel and other equipment were delivered by the Progress 25 and 26 transport ships , which were docked from March 21 to April 20 and from April 26 to June 22, respectively.

Flight to Salyut 7

At the beginning of May, Kisim and Solovyov prepared for the trip to Salyut 7. Everything necessary was brought on board the Soyuz T-15 in case a return to Mir would not be possible.

The Mir had synchronized with Salyut 7 through two orbit maneuvers. Soyuz T-15 undocked on May 5, after almost eight weeks on the Mir. The distance between the two space stations was 2500 km at that time.

This was the first flight of a spaceship between two space stations. After 29 hours of flight time, Soyuz T-15 docked with the functionless Salyut 7. Kisim and Solovyov transferred to the space station that they had left 19 months earlier and that had been uninhabited for almost half a year.

Similar to the fourth long-term crew Salyut 7 EO-4 , the cosmonauts found the inside of the station dark and icy. Little by little, they were able to put all the necessary systems into operation and secure the results of the scientific experiments that were left behind by the last crew.

After three weeks at the station, on May 28, 1986, Kisim and Solowjow carried out the mission's first space exit, during which they assembled a support structure that, when folded, could extend to a length of 15 m within a few minutes. They also collected experiments that had been placed on the outer shell of the station by the previous crews. The exit took just under four hours. Three days later, on May 31, there was a five-hour second exit, during which the installed support structure was tested.

Over the next few weeks, the two cosmonauts removed 20 devices from Salyut 7, including a multi-channel spectrometer , and packed them into the Soyuz spaceship to bring them to Mir. On June 25th, after about seven weeks in the Salyut, they disconnected and started on their way back.

Meanwhile on the Mir

Even during the absence of Kisim and Solowjow, the Mir with the coupled Progress 26 transporter remained under the control of the ground station. On May 23, an unmanned Soyuz spacecraft docked at the vacant forward port. Soyuz TM-1 was the first of the new Soyuz TM series, stayed on the Mir until May 29 and then landed unmanned.

Progress 26 disconnected on June 22nd and burned up in the earth's atmosphere as planned. In the days that followed, the Mir conducted remote-controlled orbit maneuvers to facilitate the return of the Soyuz T-15.

Return to Me, return to earth

Upon her return to Mir on June 26th, some of the remote systems on Salyut 7 were installed and scientific experiments carried out. One of these was GEOEX 86, in which areas of the GDR were examined simultaneously from an airplane, a satellite and the Mir. This provided knowledge for agriculture, geology and environmental protection.

After three more weeks on board the Mir, the two cosmonauts switched all the necessary systems of the space station to automatic operation, got back into the spaceship and returned to Earth. On July 16, 1986, after 125 days of 0 hours 0 minutes and 56 seconds and 1,980 orbits of the earth, the return capsule landed 55 km northeast of Arkalik in Kazakhstan.

meaning

This mission was the last flight of a Soyuz-T- type spacecraft and marked the transition from the age of the Salyut space stations to the modern, modular Mir. The other flights to Mir would be carried out with the new type TM .

It was the first two and so far only flights by a team between two space stations. The two stays on the Mir of 51 and 20 days were interrupted by a 51-day stay on Salyut 7. The two cosmonauts were able to take valuable equipment and research results from Salyut 7 and bring them to Mir or back to Earth.

The flight duration of 125 days was not particularly long by Soviet standards, but in terms of the total time in space, Kisim and Solowjow now took the first two places with 374 and 361 days respectively. Kisim was the first astronaut to spend over a year in space.

Shortly after the Soyuz T-15 landed, the Soviets announced that no other crew would take off for the Mir during 1986. The next manned flight took place in February 1987 with Soyuz TM-2 .

See also

Web links