Unmanned supply vessel to Mir; raised Mir's orbit. Transported sundry cargoes to the Mir orbital station. Docked with Salyut 7 on 18 Jan 1987 07:26:50 GMT. Undocked on 23 Feb 1987 11:29:01 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 25 Feb 1987 16:05:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 4.25 days. Total docked time 36.17 days.

Stationed at 83 deg W. Spacecraft engaged in practical applications and uses of space technology such as weather or communication (US Cat C). Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 75 deg W in 1987-1988; 108 deg W in-98 deg W in 1989-1992; 111 deg W in 1992; 112 deg W in 1993-1994; 135 deg W in 1995; 98 deg W in 1996-1998 As of 5 September 2001 located at 179.83 deg E drifting at 0.023 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 9 located at 176.12W drifting at 0.061W degrees per day.

Unmanned supply vessel to Mir. Orbit of station at time of rendezvous was 344 X 369 km, 51. 62 deg. Docked with Mir on 5 Mar 1987 12:42:36 GMT. Undocked on 26 Mar 1987 05:06:48 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 28 Mar 1987 03:49:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 4.01 days. Total docked time 20.68 days.

Stationed at 85 deg E. Provision of telephone and telegraph radiocommunications and television broadcasting. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 85 deg E in 1987-1991 As of 30 August 2001 located at 6.40 deg W drifting at 15.515 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 6.61W drifting at 15.520W degrees per day.

Stationed at 113 deg W. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 113 deg E in 1987-1996; 144 deg E in 1996-1998 As of 28 August 2001 located at 130.30 deg W drifting at 1.327 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 3 located at 141.38E drifting at 1.274W degrees per day.

MIR module; high energy observatory. Docked with Mir. Rendezvous with Mir 5 April; soft dock 9 April; EVA on 11 April to remove fabric strip from docking apparatus and hard dock; jettisoned service module on 12 April at 22:18

Maneuver Summary:
168 km X 278 km orbit to 172 km X 300 km orbit. Delta V: 7 m/s
169 km X 296 km orbit to 172 km X 314 km orbit. Delta V: 5 m/s
170 km X 313 km orbit to 297 km X 345 km orbit. Delta V: 46 m/s
298 km X 344 km orbit to 345 km X 364 km orbit. Delta V: 18 m/s
Service Module only, after undocking with Mir:
345 km X 364 km orbit to 341 km X 363 km orbit. Delta V: 1 m/s
340 km X 361 km orbit to 383 km X 406 km orbit. Delta V: 24 m/s
Total Delta V: 101 m/s
Officially: Extra-atmospheric astronomic research and resolution of a number of problems with scientific and economic applications.

It managed to dock to Mir on the third attempt after the crew removed a trash bag from the docking collar in a space walk. The FGB tug, its work done, then backed away from the station. But the manoeuvres had cut into its already-reduced propellant supply. Unable to deorbit itself to a controlled burn-up in the atmosphere, the FGB was instead commanded to boost itself into a storage orbit 40 km above Mir.

Unmanned supply vessel to Mir. Deorbited May 11, 1987. Docked with Mir at 343 X 363 1705 23 April at rear port of Kvant. Undocked May 11 03:10. Deorbited28 May 02:59 .
Officially: Transporting sundry cargoes to the Mir orbital station. Docked with Salyut 7 on 23 Apr 1987 17:04:51 GMT. Undocked on 11 May 1987 03:10:01 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 11 May 1987 08:28:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 2.30 days. Total docked time 17.42 days.

Energia was to deliver the military Skif-DM Polyus battle station into orbit. Due to delays in completion of the enormous static test facility at Baikonur, which could test the entire Energia vehicle stack, it was decided to launch the vehicle without the verification the tests would provide. The launch of 6SL was planned for 21:30 Moscow time. It was delayed five hours when a leak was detected in the Block 3A electrical distribution section, then by another hour due to a fault LH2 thermostat. The launch vehicle performed successfully, but the payload failed to inject itself into orbit due to a guidance system failure.

Stationed at 140 deg E. Provision of telephone and telegraph radiocommunications and television broadcasting. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 140 deg E in 1987-1989; 103 deg E in 1989-1992 As of 28 August 2001 located at 132.07 deg W drifting at 9.420 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 9 located at 61.02W drifting at 9.418W degrees per day.

Due to delays in completion of the enormous static test facility at Baikonur, which could test the entire Energia vehicle stack, it was decided to launch the vehicle without the verification the tests would provide. The launch of 6SL was planned for 11 May 1987 at 21:30 Moscow time. It was delayed five days when a leak was detected in the Block 3A electrical distribution section, then by another hour due to a fault LH2 thermostat. The launch vehicle performed successfully, but the Polyus payload failed to inject itself into orbit due to a guidance system failure. Additional Details: here....

Unmanned supply vessel to Mir. Rendezvoused with Mir/Kvant in its orbit of 343 X 366 km, 51. 6 deg. Docked with the station on 21 May 1987 05:50:38 GMT. Undocked on 19 Jul 1987 00:19:51 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 19 Jul 1987 05:42:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 2.30 days. Total docked time 58.77 days.

The group was selected to provide pilot, engineer, and scientist astronauts for space shuttle flights.. Qualifications: Pilots: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics. Advanced degree desirable. At least 1,000 flight-hours of pilot-in-command time. Flight test experience desirable. Excellent health. Vision minimum 20/50 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20 vision; maximum sitting blood pressure 140/90. Height between 163 and 193 cm.

Mission Specialists: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics and minimum three years of related experience or an advanced degree. Vision minimum 20/150 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20. Maximum sitting blood pressure of 140/90. Height between 150 and 193 cm.. First selection after the Challenger accident. 1962 applicants, 117 finalists. Reported to Johnson Space Center on August 17, 1987, to begin their one year training. Seven pilots and eight mission specialists. Two female mission specialists, including the first black woman astronaut. Ten military officers and five civilians (including three from NASA Johnson and one from NASA Marshall).

The studies to recommend a family of modular boosters with low earth orbit payloads from 2,400 kg to 90,000 kg. The new launch vehicle was expected to make its first flight in 1998, reach full operational capability of up to 30 flights per year in 2000, and replace all existing expendable launch vehicles by 2005.

Manned three crew. Transported to the Mir orbital space station a Soviet-Syrian crew comprising cosmonauts A S Viktorenko, A P Aleksandrov and M A Faris to conduct joint research and experiments with cosmonauts Y Romanenko and A Laveykin. Maneuvered from initial 231 X 217 km orbit to Mir's 311 X 359 km orbit. Docked with rear Mir port at 3:30 GMT 24 July. Undocked with rear port 30 July and docked to forward port.

First flight of Almaz radars imaging satellite taken out of mothballs after death of Ustinov. At the beginning of 1987 it was decided not to man the Almaz-T, instead operate it in a fully automatic mode. Thus the final Almaz cosmonaut training group was disbanded. Cosmos 1870 conducted remote sensing of the earth's surface, oceans and seas in the interests of various branches of science and the economy. Its side-looking radar had a 20-25 m ground resolution and functioned throughout its two year service life.

Unmanned resupply vessel to Mir. Rendezvous transfer orbits 187 X 250 km, 51. 64 deg; 266 X 314 km; 309 X 360 km. Docked with Mir on 5 Aug 1987 22:27:35 GMT. Refueled Mir propellants tanks on 15/16 Sept. Undocked on 21 Sep 1987 23:57:41 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 23 Sep 1987 01:02:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 3.12 days. Total docked time 47.06 days.

Stationed at 150 deg E. ETS-V (Kiku-5). Establishment of basic technology for bus systems needed for 3-axis stabilized geostationary satellites. Accumulation of key technologies required for high performance in the next generation of applications satellites; Experiment of mobile satellite communications for the control of aircrafts over the Pacific Ocean, and for the communication, navigational aid, search and rescue of ships. H-I (3-stage) launch vehicle. Launching organization NASDA. Launch time 0920 GMT. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 150 deg E in 1987-1997 As of 5 September 2001 located at 92.55 deg W drifting at 3.394 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 49.74W drifting at 3.380W degrees per day.

Uragan was said to have been cancelled before the first flight of the Buran shuttle. Possibly the cancellation of US Shuttle polar orbit military missions from Vandenberg after the Challenger explosion eliminated the space interceptor's mission. Or perhaps it never existed and was merely the subject of a very successful disinformation campaign. Adding even more confusion is that it is now known that at least two spaceplanes - Chelomei's LKS, for launch on Proton, and Molniya's OK-M, for launch on Zenit, were being designed concurrently with Buran. And the official history of the MiG OKB, states cryptically that after completion of the 105-11 flight tests development of the spaceplane continued....

Stationed at 99 deg E. Transmission of Central Television programmes to a network of receivers for collective use. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 99 deg E in 1987-1989 As of 31 August 2001 located at 146.34 deg W drifting at 13.641 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 69.25E drifting at 13.645W degrees per day.

Australian domestic communications; 164 deg E. Communication satellite. Launching states: Australia and France. Longitude 164 deg E +/- 0.5. (orbit given is geocentric 42164 km, which corresponds to altitude 35787 km). The satellite mass was 655 kg at beginning of life for an Ariane mission only on-station after the apogee motor had fired and station acquisition fuel was expended. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 164 deg E in 1987-1993; 156 deg E in 1993-1995; 152 deg E in 1995-1999 As of 4 September 2001 located at 163.96 deg E drifting at 0.005 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 31.52E drifting at 0.011E degrees per day.

European communications; 10 deg E. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 10 deg E in 1987-1988; 13 deg E in 1989-1991; 7 deg E in 1991-1993; 25 deg E in 1993-1999 As of 2 September 2001 located at 33.14 deg E drifting at 0.002 deg E per day. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 120.92E drifting at 5.702W degrees per day.

Unmanned resupply vessel to Mir. Delivered 850 kg propellants, 315 kg food, 2,000 kg total. Docked with Mir on 26 Sep 1987 01:08:15 GMT. Undocked on 10 Nov 1987 04:09:10 GMT. Redocked from 2,500 m on 10 Nov 1987 05:47 GMT. Undocked again 17 Nov 1998 19:25 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 19 Nov 1987 00:58:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 3.17 days. Total docked time 52.82 days.

Stationed at 80 deg E; later moved to 13.5 deg W. Communications experiments. Investigation of outer space; relaying of telephone and telegraph information. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 80 deg E in 1987-1990; 14 deg W in 1990-1994 As of 3 September 2001 located at 1.75 deg E drifting at 0.093 deg E per day. As of 2007 Mar 9 located at 68.17W drifting at 0.344W degrees per day.

The Minuteman II launch took place at sunset and created a spectacular show in the evening sky. Pictures of the event were interpreted to mean that the missile was detonated because it was off course. The flash was visible as far away as Salt Lake City. The Air Force claimed that it was a successful launch, but the alternative LA Weekly later said that it was indeed heading for Los Angeles and was destroyed. However high-altitude contrails and staging events, altered by winds aloft, can produce easily-misinterpreted visual displays.

Geosynchronous ballistic missile early warning satellite. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 24 deg W in 1987-1991 As of 5 September 2001 located at 165.32 deg W drifting at 0.190 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 9 located at 85.03W drifting at 0.375E degrees per day.

Unmanned resupply vessel to Mir. Space station orbit at rendezvous was 326 km x 343 km. Docked on 23 Nov 1987 01:39:13 GMT. Undocked on 19 Dec 1987 08:15:46 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 19 Dec 1987 13:37:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 2.30 days. Total docked time 26.28 days.

West German communications; solar panel failed to deploy making spacecraft unusable. Because of a malfunction of the solar generator, the satellite is being used only for technical tests. Geostationary position 19 W. Launch by Ariane-2 flight no. 20. Due to a malfunction of the solar generator, TV-SAT 1 was taken out of commission and sen t to a so-called parking orbit beyond the geostationary orbit. Semi-major axis 42485.605 km. Eccentricity 0.00116. Inc 0.716, Arg of perigee 216.66, RA 76.77, Mean anomaly 47.1 Mean drift -4.071 deg/day, E long 350.617, latitude -0.713. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 18 deg W in 1988 As of 5 September 2001 located at 76.53 deg W drifting at 4.886 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 169.62W drifting at 4.874W degrees per day.

Stationed at 95 deg E. Relaying of telephone and telegraph information. Second launch in Altair/SR system for communication with Mir space station and other orbital spacecraft. In late July 1988 Cosmos 1897 was moved from its station at 95 degrees East to 12 degrees East to support the Buran shuttle test flight of November 14, 1988. During February 1987 the satellite was moved back to its original position at 95 degrees East. The satellite drifted to 90 degrees East by March 1991. By late April it was maneuvered it back to 95 degrees East, but by the end of 1991 it had drifted to 77 degrees East and was considered inoperative. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 95 deg E in 1987-1988; 12 deg E in 1988-1989; 95 deg E in 1989-1992 As of 5 September 2001 located at 62.12 deg E drifting at 0.168 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 94.48E drifting at 0.087E degrees per day.

Reserve DSP ballistic missile launch detection satellite fitted with Block 14 sensors, remained in service for only five years.. Observed Scud launches during Gulf War. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 35 deg W in 1988-1989; 10 deg E in 1989-1992; 35 deg W in 1992-1993; 105 deg E in 1993; 165 deg W in 1999.