Soyuz T-13

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Mission dates
Mission: Soyuz T-13
COSPAR-ID : 1985-043A
Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-ST ( GRAY index  11F732)
serial number 19L
Dimensions: 6850 kg
Launcher: Soyuz U2 (GRAY index 11A511U2)
Call sign: Памир ("Pamir")
Crew: 2
Begin: June 6, 1985, 06:39:52  UTC
Starting place: Baikonur 1/5
Space station: Salyut 7
Coupling: June 8, 1985, 08:50 UTC
Decoupling: September 25, 1985, 03:58 UTC
Landing: September 26, 1985, 09:51:58 UTC
Landing place: 220 km NE of Djeskazgan
Flight duration: 112d 3h 12 m 6s
Earth orbits: 2645
Rotation time : 88.7 min
Apogee : 222 km
Perigee : 198 km
◄ Before / After ►
Soyuz T-12
(manned) 		Soyuz T-14
(manned)

Soyuz T-13 is the mission designation for the flight of a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft to the Soviet space station Salyut 7, which started on June 6, 1985 . It was the eighth visit of a Soyuz spaceship to this space station and the 74th flight in the Soviet Soyuz program. It was the first space mission in which a spacecraft successfully docked to a "dead" space station and was able to restart it.

crew

Starting crew

Janibekov was already in command of the previous Soyuz T-12 flight. With this flight he was the first Soviet cosmonaut and the second spaceman to make five space flights. John Young held the record with six appearances.

Substitute team

Return crew

Mission overview

The mission was the first real rescue mission for a previously completely broken down space station. Soyuz T-13 was the first spaceship to be manually coupled to the inactive space station. Therefore, the spaceship was adapted to simplify the approach maneuvers. Vladimir Janibekov and Viktor Savinykh rescued the Salyut 7 station, which had problems with the power supply. The rescue is considered to be one of the greatest achievements in space history.

Vladimir Janibekov certainly did not expect to return to the Salyut station so soon after his Soyuz T-12 flight . As they approached, the crew noticed the non-aligned solar cells of the station, which was slowly rotating around its longitudinal axis. They used a handheld laser to measure their distance from the station and flew around the station once to check that the outside of the station was intact.

Janibekov noticed that the thermal cover of the transfer department looked dull and gray, caused by prolonged exposure to the sun. Once the Soyuz spaceship first docked with this inactive space station, the crew was able to confirm that the station was electrically dead after checking the electrical connections to the station.

Both cosmonauts checked the station's atmosphere before opening the hatch. The air was cold but could be breathed. Frost-covered walls and equipment. The cosmonauts wore winter clothing including fur-lined hats when they entered the station.

The first task was to restore the power supply. The eight batteries were discharged and two of them were destroyed. First the cosmonauts had to charge the batteries. They used the Soyuz spaceship to turn the solar panels into the sun and recharge the intact batteries one by one using specially made jumper cables. On June 10th, they turned on the air heater. The cosmonauts had to rely on the air renewal systems in Soyuz T-13 until they restarted the Salyut systems. The orientation control was switched on again on June 13th . This was a prerequisite for receiving a Progress supply spaceship with urgently needed spare parts. The heating in the walls could only be switched on when all the frost had evaporated, otherwise the condensation would have penetrated the devices. Normal humidity was reached at the end of July. The station's water tanks thawed at the end of June. The frost had destroyed the kettle, so the cosmonauts had to use strong TV lights to warm up.

Savinych stayed on board for 169 days and returned on November 21, 1985 with Soyuz T-14 , Janibekov on September 26, 1985 together with Georgi Grechko, who came with Soyuz T-14, with Soyuz T-13, after being on board for 110 days Salyut 7 had spent. Soyuz T-13 conducted thirty hours of proximity and coupling tests before returning to Earth.

Movie

The mission was filmed in 2017 with the Russian film Salyut-7 , but with a lot of artistic freedom.

See also

Web links