Salyut 6 EP-1
Encyclopedia
Soyuz 6 EP-1 was a 1978 Soviet manned space flight to the orbiting Salyut 6
space station, during the expedition EO-1
. It was the third manned flight to the station, and the second successful docking. It was also the first crew to visit an occupied station and marked the first time that three spacecraft were docked together. The launching spacecraft was Soyuz 27 , and the crew of EP-1 are often referred to as the Soyuz 27 crew.
The main function of the mission was to swap Soyuz craft with the orbiting crew, in so doing freeing a docking port for a forthcoming supply tanker. Cosmonauts Vladimir Dzhanibekov
and Oleg Makarov returned to earth in the Soyuz 26
spacecraft after spending five days on the station.
, and the third of flight engineer Oleg Makarov.
mission. Dzhanibekov and Makarov were reassigned as a result of the Soyuz 25 dock failure and the new rule that no all-rookie crew was allowed to fly. Soyuz 27 was launched with its two-man crew on 10 January, 1978. Its primary goal was to swap ships with the resident Soyuz 26 crew and thereby free up the aft port of the Salyut 6 space station for the upcoming Progress 1
resupply mission (Mission control was not yet willing to attempt to redock Soyuz 26 to the other port, a now-standard practice). Its immediate goal was to ensure the station's forward port was a functional dock. Soyuz 25
had failed to dock with the forward port the previous October, and a December spacewalk and inspection by the Soyuz 26
crew had seemed to indicate that the docking problem was a fault of the Soyuz 25 craft rather than the Salyut's dock. The Soyuz 25's dock mechanism was burned up and destroyed during reentry and could not be inspected.
Dzhanibekov noticed that as he and Makarov approached the station in Soyuz 27, they were slightly off-course, but he allowed the automatic system to continue and, with 7 metres (23 ft) to go, it corrected the slight alignment error. To the relief of mission control, Soyuz 27 successfully docked at the forward port. While the docking took place, Grechko and Romanenko moved into Soyuz 26 and closed the hatches in case of an accident. It was the first-ever docking of three independently launched spacecraft.
The Soyuz 27 crew then encountered their first problem - a balky hatch that opened suddenly and sent Makarov and Dzhanibekov tumbling backwards. The Salyut crew dove into the Soyuz and hugged their first visitors. They talked to Mission Control where Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev
was watching the proceedings through a live video feed from space.
Russian hospitality by the Soyuz 26 crew was on display though the common symbols of fellowship and good luck, offerings of bread and salt, were replaced by biscuits and salt tablets. The crews also made many toasts with vodka and cherry juice in squeeze tubes.
The visiting crew brought supplies such as food, books and letters, equipment and a French
biological experiment called "Cytos," and Dzhanibekov, an electronics expert, inspected the station's electrical system.
To test the structural integrity of a station which consisted of three spacecraft, the four men held onto their exercise treadmill
and bounced up and down to see if this amplified any vibrations. It had been found that resonant frequencies
could be created by running at certain speeds. The crew found that the station was perfectly safe with two spacecraft docked.
One piece of information that the visiting crew didn't immediately tell the station crew was that Grechko's father had died ten days earlier. Psychologists had decided such knowledge was not in the best interests of a cosmonaut spending several months in space. Makarov and Dzhanibekov informed commander Romanenko, however, who assumed the responsibility of telling Grechko when they landed. Years later, Grechko said in an interview that he also thought the decision was the right one.
The only major scientific experiment performed by the crews of Soyuz 26 and 27 was the French Cytos experiment, an investigation into how microgravity might affect the way protozoa
grew. The experiment showed very little difference between those in space and the control group on Earth. The only slight difference was in the cells' metabolism
.
On 13 January the crews performed for the first time the now-routine exchange of seat liners and centering weights in their respective Soyuz craft. The liners are custom molded for each space traveler, and are needed for launch and landing, and the weights are needed to ensure a proper center of mass for the returning craft so it does not undershoot or overshoot the landing target.
Makarov and Dzhanibekov departed the Salyut station in Soyuz 26 on 16 January and landed 310 km (192.6 mi) west of Tselinograd, Kazakhstan
in the Soyuz 26 craft. The original Soyuz 26 crew used the Soyuz 27 craft to end their record-breaking 96-day mission on 16 March.
Salyut 6
Salyut 6 , DOS-5, was a Soviet orbital space station, the eighth flown as part of the Salyut programme. Launched on 29 September 1977 by a Proton rocket, the station was the first of the 'second-generation' type of space station. Salyut 6 possessed several revolutionary advances over the earlier...
space station, during the expedition EO-1
Salyut 6 EO-1
Salyut 6 EO-1 was a Soviet long duration space expedition, the first to dock successfully with the space station Salyut 6. The two person crew stayed were in space for a record setting 96 days, from December 1977 to March 1978...
. It was the third manned flight to the station, and the second successful docking. It was also the first crew to visit an occupied station and marked the first time that three spacecraft were docked together. The launching spacecraft was Soyuz 27 , and the crew of EP-1 are often referred to as the Soyuz 27 crew.
The main function of the mission was to swap Soyuz craft with the orbiting crew, in so doing freeing a docking port for a forthcoming supply tanker. Cosmonauts Vladimir Dzhanibekov
Vladimir Dzhanibekov
Vladimir Aleksandrovich Dzhanibekov is a former cosmonaut who made five flights.He was born in the remote area of Iskandar in Tashkent Province, Uzbekistan. He changed his surname from Krysin when he married to honor his wife's family, which was noble kin of the descendants of the medieval Kazakh...
and Oleg Makarov returned to earth in the Soyuz 26
Soyuz 26
Soyuz 26 was Soviet manned mission, used to launch the crew of Salyut 6 EO-1, the first long duration crew on the space station Salyut 6.The Soyuz spacecraft was launched on December 10, 1977, and docked with the space station the next day...
spacecraft after spending five days on the station.
Crew
This was the first spaceflight of Commander Vladimir DzhanibekovVladimir Dzhanibekov
Vladimir Aleksandrovich Dzhanibekov is a former cosmonaut who made five flights.He was born in the remote area of Iskandar in Tashkent Province, Uzbekistan. He changed his surname from Krysin when he married to honor his wife's family, which was noble kin of the descendants of the medieval Kazakh...
, and the third of flight engineer Oleg Makarov.
Backup crew
Mission Highlights
The Soyuz 27 crew comprised the original prime and back-up commanders for the scheduled East German IntercosmosIntercosmos
Interkosmos was a space program of the Soviet Union designed to include members of military forces of allied Warsaw Pact countries in manned and unmanned missions...
mission. Dzhanibekov and Makarov were reassigned as a result of the Soyuz 25 dock failure and the new rule that no all-rookie crew was allowed to fly. Soyuz 27 was launched with its two-man crew on 10 January, 1978. Its primary goal was to swap ships with the resident Soyuz 26 crew and thereby free up the aft port of the Salyut 6 space station for the upcoming Progress 1
Progress 1
Progress 1 was a Soviet unmanned Progress cargo spacecraft which was launched in 1978 to resupply the Salyut 6 space station. It was the maiden flight of the Progress spacecraft, and used the Progress 7K-TG configuration. It carried supplies for the EO-1 crew aboard Salyut 6, which consisted of...
resupply mission (Mission control was not yet willing to attempt to redock Soyuz 26 to the other port, a now-standard practice). Its immediate goal was to ensure the station's forward port was a functional dock. Soyuz 25
Soyuz 25
Soyuz 25 was a 1977 Soviet manned space flight, the first to the new Salyut 6 space station, which had been launched 10 days earlier. However, the mission was aborted when cosmonauts Vladimir Kovalyonok and Valery Ryumin failed to engage the docking latches of the station despite five attempts...
had failed to dock with the forward port the previous October, and a December spacewalk and inspection by the Soyuz 26
Soyuz 26
Soyuz 26 was Soviet manned mission, used to launch the crew of Salyut 6 EO-1, the first long duration crew on the space station Salyut 6.The Soyuz spacecraft was launched on December 10, 1977, and docked with the space station the next day...
crew had seemed to indicate that the docking problem was a fault of the Soyuz 25 craft rather than the Salyut's dock. The Soyuz 25's dock mechanism was burned up and destroyed during reentry and could not be inspected.
Dzhanibekov noticed that as he and Makarov approached the station in Soyuz 27, they were slightly off-course, but he allowed the automatic system to continue and, with 7 metres (23 ft) to go, it corrected the slight alignment error. To the relief of mission control, Soyuz 27 successfully docked at the forward port. While the docking took place, Grechko and Romanenko moved into Soyuz 26 and closed the hatches in case of an accident. It was the first-ever docking of three independently launched spacecraft.
The Soyuz 27 crew then encountered their first problem - a balky hatch that opened suddenly and sent Makarov and Dzhanibekov tumbling backwards. The Salyut crew dove into the Soyuz and hugged their first visitors. They talked to Mission Control where Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
was watching the proceedings through a live video feed from space.
Russian hospitality by the Soyuz 26 crew was on display though the common symbols of fellowship and good luck, offerings of bread and salt, were replaced by biscuits and salt tablets. The crews also made many toasts with vodka and cherry juice in squeeze tubes.
The visiting crew brought supplies such as food, books and letters, equipment and a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
biological experiment called "Cytos," and Dzhanibekov, an electronics expert, inspected the station's electrical system.
To test the structural integrity of a station which consisted of three spacecraft, the four men held onto their exercise treadmill
Treadmill
A treadmill is an exercise machine for running or walking while staying in one place. The word treadmill traditionally refers to a type of mill which was operated by a person or animal treading steps of a wheel to grind grain...
and bounced up and down to see if this amplified any vibrations. It had been found that resonant frequencies
Resonance
In physics, resonance is the tendency of a system to oscillate at a greater amplitude at some frequencies than at others. These are known as the system's resonant frequencies...
could be created by running at certain speeds. The crew found that the station was perfectly safe with two spacecraft docked.
One piece of information that the visiting crew didn't immediately tell the station crew was that Grechko's father had died ten days earlier. Psychologists had decided such knowledge was not in the best interests of a cosmonaut spending several months in space. Makarov and Dzhanibekov informed commander Romanenko, however, who assumed the responsibility of telling Grechko when they landed. Years later, Grechko said in an interview that he also thought the decision was the right one.
The only major scientific experiment performed by the crews of Soyuz 26 and 27 was the French Cytos experiment, an investigation into how microgravity might affect the way protozoa
Protozoa
Protozoa are a diverse group of single-cells eukaryotic organisms, many of which are motile. Throughout history, protozoa have been defined as single-cell protists with animal-like behavior, e.g., movement...
grew. The experiment showed very little difference between those in space and the control group on Earth. The only slight difference was in the cells' metabolism
Metabolism
Metabolism is the set of chemical reactions that happen in the cells of living organisms to sustain life. These processes allow organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments. Metabolism is usually divided into two categories...
.
On 13 January the crews performed for the first time the now-routine exchange of seat liners and centering weights in their respective Soyuz craft. The liners are custom molded for each space traveler, and are needed for launch and landing, and the weights are needed to ensure a proper center of mass for the returning craft so it does not undershoot or overshoot the landing target.
Makarov and Dzhanibekov departed the Salyut station in Soyuz 26 on 16 January and landed 310 km (192.6 mi) west of Tselinograd, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
in the Soyuz 26 craft. The original Soyuz 26 crew used the Soyuz 27 craft to end their record-breaking 96-day mission on 16 March.
External links
- http://www.astronautix.com/flights/soyuz27.htm
- http://www.spacefacts.de/mission/english/soyuz-27.htm
- http://www.terra.es/personal/heimdall/eng/soyuz27.htm
- http://www.zarya.info/Diaries/Salyut6/Occupation1.htm
- http://books.nap.edu/books/0309085489/html/index.html