Soyuz 26

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Mission dates
Mission: Soyuz 26
COSPAR-ID : 1977-113
Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T ( GRAY index  11F615A8)
serial number 43
Dimensions: 6800 kg
Launcher: Soyuz U (GRAY index 11A511U)
Call sign: Outbound flight: Таймыр (" Taimyr ") Return
flight: Памир (" Pamir ")
Crew: 2
Begin: December 10, 1977, 01:18:40  UTC
Starting place: Baikonur 1/5
Space station: Salyut 6
Coupling: December 11, 1977, 03:02:41 UTC
Decoupling: January 16, 1978, 08:08 UTC
Landing: January 16, 1978, 11:24:58 UTC
Landing place: 310 km west of Zelinograd
Flight duration: 37d 10h 6min 18s
Earth orbits: 591
Rotation time : 88.67 min
Apogee : 246 km
Perigee : 193 km
◄ Before / After ►
Soyuz 25
(manned) 		Soyuz 27
(manned)

Soyuz 26 is the mission name for the flight of a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft to the Soviet space station Salyut 6, which started on December 10, 1977 . It was the first successful visit by a Soyuz spaceship to this space station and the 44th flight in the Soviet Soyuz program. The spacecraft served the first long-term crew Salyut 6 EO-1 for the outward flight and was brought back to Earth by the visiting crew Salyut 6 EP-2.

crew

Starting crew

On the previous flight, Grechko was not on the backup team, but on the support team. Since after the failure of Soyuz 25 a team could no longer consist only of newcomers, he had been given preference over Ivanchenkov, who was again divided into the substitute team.

Substitute team

Kowaljonok was previously in command of the failed Soyuz 25 flight , which was only two months ago.

The support team consisted of Vladimir Lyakhov , Leonid Popov , Valeri Ryumin and Valentin Lebedev .

Return crew

Mission overview

This mission represented a further step towards the permanent stay of cosmonauts in earth orbit. For this purpose Salyut 6 was equipped with two coupling nozzles. With this, the Soviet Union was able to achieve some initial achievements (for example the coupling of three spacecraft for the first time).

Choosing the starting time was risky. It was the first opportunity to take off after the failure of Soyuz 25. The crew would be at the station in winter, the most difficult weather for take-off and landing. The coupling had to take place at the rear, untried coupling socket because Soyuz 25 wanted to dock on the front adapter two months earlier (in vain).

After the first visit with Soyuz 25 could not connect to the front coupling socket, it had to be clarified by means of a space exit whether the second coupling unit was damaged or inoperable. This exit took place on the ninth day of the flight. It was the first Russian exit since 1969. For the first time, the Orlan spacesuit was used, which is still used today in the ISS space station . At the same time it was subjected to intensive testing.

This took place in the front section of the station called the “transition section”, which can be hermetically sealed from the rest of the station. After the breathing air was released, Grechko left the station (at least partially) and Romanenko stayed in the transitional section used as an airlock. The coupling piece was examined with a color television camera and special tools. No damage was found. That said, Soyuz 25 had the problem. The outboard maneuver lasted one hour and 28 minutes.

Through this action the way was clear for the coupling with Soyuz 27 with Vladimir Dschanibekow and Oleg Makarow. When they docked on January 11, 1978, the first object was created that was composed of three spacecraft. Experiments on the stability of the complex (generation of vibrations, measurement of resonance frequencies) were therefore carried out with the visiting team.

Since the mission duration of the first crew exceeded the life of a Soyuz spaceship, a spaceship swap was carried out for the first time at a space station, a practice that was later practiced frequently. In this case, the aim was to avoid the Soyuz 26 spaceship being relocated from the rear to the front port. The rear nozzle was required for the Progress supply spaceship , as the connections for refueling are located here. The necessary work (conversion of the personal seat shells and space suits, etc.) was also tested.

Soyuz 26 was the first spaceship to completely replace the crew in space. Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 had previously undertaken a partial exchange in 1969.

See also

Web links