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Ivanchenkov Kovalyonok

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Salyut 6 Credit - © Mark Wade

15 June 1978 20:17 GMT. Landing Date: 1978-11-02 11:05:00. Flight Time: 139.62 days. Alternate Name: Soyuz 29. Flight Up: Soyuz 29. Flight Back: Soyuz 31. Call Sign: Foton (Photon). Crew: Ivanchenkov, Kovalyonok. Backup Crew: Lyakhov, Ryumin. Location of Capsule: Militärhistorisches Museum, Dresden, Germany. Program: Salyut 6.

Of note: Record flight duration. Manned two crew. Docked with Salyut 6. Placed on board the Salyut-6 station the EO-2 long-duration crew consisting of V V Kovalyonok and A S Ivanchenkov to conduct scientific and technological investigations and experiments.

Narrative (adapted from D S F Portree's Mir Hardware Heritage, NASA RP-1357, 1995)

Upon arriving at Salyut 6, Kovalyonok and Ivanchenkov switched on the station’s air regenerators and thermal regulation system, and activated the water recycling system to reprocess water left aboard by the EO-1 crew. De-mothballing Salyut 6 occurred simultaneously with the crew’s adaptation to weightlessness, and required about one week. On June 19 Salyut 6 was in a 368 km by 338 km orbit. Onboard temperature was 20°C, and air pressure was 750 mm/Hg. Soon after this, Kovalyonok and Ivanchenkov performed maintenance on the station’s airlock, installed equipment they brought with them in Soyuz 29’s orbital module, and tested the station’s Kaskad orientation system. The station operated in gravity-gradient stabilised mode June 24-26 to avoid attitude control system engine firings which could cause interference with a 3-day smelting experiment using the Splav-01 furnace. The previous crew installed the furnace in the intermediate compartment so it could operate in vacuum.42

From 30 June 29-July 5, 1978 the Soyuz 30 mission provided the EO-2 crew with their first visitors. Miroslaw Hermaszewski, the second Intercosmos cosmonaut, flew to Salyut 6 with Pyotr Klimuk. His experiment program stressed life sciences, Earth observations, and study of the aurora borealis.

Progress 2 flew from July 9-August 2, 1978. It delivered, among other items, the Kristall kiln. Fuel transfer from the Progress to the Salyut was carried out under TsUP control, leaving the cosmonauts free to do other things. On July 29, the EO-2 crew conducted an EVA to retrieve detectors and materials samples launched attached to the Salyut 6 hull. The EVA lasted 2 hr, 5 min. Afterwards, the EO-2 crew replenished the Salyut 6 air supply, which had been depleted by the EVA, from tanks in Progress 2. They then filled Progress 2 with trash. It separated and deorbited on command from the TsUP.

Progress flew from August 10-21, 1978 and again resupplied the station. After it had departed, Soyuz 31 flew August 27-September 3, 1978 with the crew of Valeri Bykovski and Sigmund Jaehn of East Germany. Jaehn’s program focused on materials sciences, Earth observations, and life sciences.

On September 7, 1978 the EO-2 crew conducted the first transfer of a Soyuz from the aft port to the front port of a space station. This became a routine procedure. They undocked Soyuz 31 and backed off to 100-200 m distance. Then the TsUP commanded Salyut 6 to rotate laterally 180°, placing the front port before the waiting Soyuz 31 spacecraft. The operation freed the aft port for additional Progress freighters, the first of which, Progress 4 docked with the station from October 6-24, 1978. Late in Salyut 6 Principal Expedition 2, the crew noted deviations in the control parameters of the fuel lines in the Salyut 6 propulsion system. After the crew had departed, and the station was unoccupied, analysis of readings from six sensors indicated a leak in one of three tanks in the Salyut 6 ODU. UDMH fuel had leaked into the nitrogen-pressurised bellows which pushed fuel from the tank to Salyut 6’s rocket motors. It threatened to damage non-metallic parts of a valve which lead into the 'supercharging line,' and to contaminate the entire propulsion system, including the attitude control system.

• 1978 Jun 15 - Soyuz 29  Crew: Ivanchenkov, Kovalyonok. Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. Payload: Soyuz 7K-T s/n 46. Mass: 6,800 kg (14,900 lb). Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Duration: 79.64 days. Perigee: 193 km (119 mi). Apogee: 248 km (154 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 88.90 min.

  Manned two crew. Docked with Salyut 6. Placed on board the Salyut-6 station a crew consisting of V.V. Kovalenko and A.S. Ivanchenkov to conduct scientific and technological investigations and experiments.

• 1978 Jun 27 - Soyuz 30  Crew: Hermaszewski, Klimuk. Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T/A9. Payload: Soyuz 7K-T(A9) s/n 67. Mass: 6,800 kg (14,900 lb). Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Duration: 7.92 days. Perigee: 194 km (120 mi). Apogee: 244 km (151 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 88.80 min.

  Manned two crew. Docked with Salyut 6. Placed on board the Salyut-6 station, under the Intercosmos programme, a second, international, crew consisting of P.I. Klimuk (USSR) and M. Hermaszewski (Poland) to conduct scientific investigations and experiments.

• 1978 Jul 5 - Landing of Soyuz 30 

  Soyuz 30 landed at 13:29 GMT.

• 1978 Jul 7 - Progress 2  Spacecraft: Progress. Payload: Progress s/n 101. Mass: 7,014 kg (15,463 lb). Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Duration: 27.59 days. Perigee: 248 km (154 mi). Apogee: 307 km (190 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 90.00 min.

  Unmanned supply vessel to Salyut 6. Delivery of fuel, consumable materials and equipment to the Salyut 6 station. Docked with Salyut 6 on 9 Jul 1978 12:58:59 GMT. Undocked on 2 Aug 1978 04:57:44 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 4 Aug 1978 01:31:07 GMT. Total free-flight time 3.92 days. Total docked time 23.67 days.

• 1978 Jul 29 - EVA Salyut 6 EO-2-1  Crew: Ivanchenkov, Kovalyonok. EVA Type: Stand-Up External Vehicular Activity. EVA Duration: 0.0868 days. Spacecraft: Salyut 6.

  Retrieved material samples and equipment.

• 1978 Aug 7 - Progress 3  Spacecraft: Progress. Payload: Progress s/n 103. Mass: 7,014 kg (15,463 lb). Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Duration: 15.76 days. Perigee: 190 km (110 mi). Apogee: 232 km (144 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 88.70 min.

  Unmanned supply vessel to Salyut 6. Delivery of fuel, consumable materials and equipment to the Salyut 6 station. Docked with Salyut 6 on 9 Aug 1978 23:59:30 GMT. Undocked on 21 Aug 1978 15:42:50 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 23 Aug 1978 16:45:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 4.10 days. Total docked time 11.66 days.

• 1978 Aug 20 - Kamanin in Star City. 

  At a visit to Star City, Kamanin is allowed to participate together with Yeliseyev in a communications session with the EO-2 crew (Ivanchenkov, Kovalyonok) aboard Salyut 6.

• 1978 Aug 26 - Soyuz 31  Crew: Bykovsky, Jaehn. Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. Payload: Soyuz 7K-T s/n 47. Mass: 6,800 kg (14,900 lb). Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Duration: 67.84 days. Perigee: 193 km (119 mi). Apogee: 243 km (150 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 88.80 min.

  Manned two crew. Docked with Salyut 6. Delivered to the Salyut-6 station the third international 'Intercosmos' crew consisting of V F Bykovsky (USSR) and S Jaehn (German Democratic Republic) to carry out scientific research and experiments.

• 1978 Sep 3 - Landing of Soyuz 29 

  Soyuz 29 landed at 11:40 GMT with the crew of Bykovsky and Jaehn aboard.

• 1978 Oct 3 - Progress 4  Spacecraft: Progress. Payload: Progress s/n 105. Mass: 7,014 kg (15,463 lb). Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Duration: 22.72 days. Perigee: 185 km (114 mi). Apogee: 247 km (153 mi). Inclination: 51.70 deg. Period: 88.80 min.

  Unmanned supply vessel to Salyut 6. Delivery of fuel, consumable materials and equipment to the Salyut 6 station. Docked with Salyut 6 on 6 Oct 1978 01:00:15 GMT. Undocked on 24 Oct 1978 13:01:52 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 26 Oct 1978 16:28:13 GMT. Total free-flight time 4.22 days. Total docked time 18.50 days.

• 1978 Nov 2 - Landing of Soyuz 31 

  Soyuz 31 landed at 11:05 GMT with the crew of Ivanchenkov and Kovalyonok aboard.

• Agapov, V, Novosti kosmonavtiki, "Tablitsa zapuskov transportnikh gruzovikh korabley tipa 'Progress' i 'Progress M'", 1998, Issue 7, page 46.

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