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Program: Salyut 7. Due to cancellation of the Almaz military station, and delays in the Mir project, the decision was taken in the late 1970's to fly the back-up to DOS-5 / Salyut 6. This was launched as Salyut 7 in 1982. The opportunity was still taken to fly 'guest cosmonauts' from friendly countries on short visits to the stations, although emphasis was placed on military experiments. Salyut 7 was able to conduct significant military experiments thanks to the greatly increased volume and payload of the TKS modules diverted from the Almaz programme that docked with the station.
Salyut 7 was aloft for four years and two months, during which time it was visited by 10 crews constituting 6 main expeditions and 4 secondary flights (including French and Indian cosmonauts). A total of 22 cosmonauts visited the station, five of them twice and one three times. From two to six crew were aboard at any one time. 11 Soyuz T and 15 Progress spacecraft made a total of 25 dockings and 3 redockings. Mission durations of 211 and then 237 days were achieved, during which 13 EVA's were conducted during 861 total days of piloted flight. On 19-22 August 1986 the station was moved to a 492 x 474 km orbit, which was expected to take a very long time to decay. Retrieval at a future date by a Buran shuttle was planned. However much greater than expected solar activity resulted in it returning to earth much more rapidly than expected.
Due to various technical problems, Salyut 7 was much less productive a space station than Salyut 6.
The manned ferry to the station was the Soyuz T, derived from the still-born Soyuz 7K-S military version of Soyuz which began development in 1968. Station resupply was by Progress, an unmanned logistics modification of the Soyuz that replaced the crew re-entry vehicle with propellant tanks. Large TKS modules from the cancelled Almaz program docked with Salyut 7 for major military experiments. From 17 July 1984 Soyuz could be launched with 200 kg additional mass thanks to use of Tsiklin propellant in the Soyuz-U2 booster.
Major Events:
- 1982 April 19 - Salyut 7. Spacecraft: Salyut 7. Mass: 18,900 kg (41,600 lb). Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K.
Second Soviet replenishable long-duration ‘civilian’ space station. Objectives: Continuation of scientific research on board manned space complexes in the interests of science and the Soviet national economy; testing of advanced systems and apparatus for orbital stations. Continuation of the scientific research in progress on board manned space complexes in the interests of science and the national economy; testing of advanced systems and apparatus for orbital stations. Although of the same design as Salyut 6, technical breakdowns throughout its life made Salyut 7 a much less productive station. Replaced finally by Mir. Two different TKS resupply craft, originally designed for the Almaz military station, docked with Salyut 7 to provide a larger complex. With the cancellation of Almaz, a large proportion of the experiments carried out on board had military objectives. As of January 1990 out of fuel, unable to manoeuvre, uncontrolled re-entry expected in three to four years. Re-entered in 1991 with 70 kg fuel remaining over Argentina. Controllers attempted to control impact point (set for Atlantic Ocean) by setting Salyut 7/Kosmos 1686 assembly into a tumble. This however failed and Salyut 7 re-entered February 7, 1991 04:00 GMT. Many fragments fell on the town of Capitan Bermudez, 25 km from Rosario and 400 km from Buenos Aires, Argentina. At 1 am local time the sky was lit up with hundreds of incandescent meteors travelling from Southwest to Northeast. At dawn the inhabitants discovered numerous metal fragments, which seemed to have fallen in distinct groups at various locations in the city. Luckily no one was hurt in the metallic shower. Major Events: EVA July 30 to demonstrate building materials. Docking of TKS Kosmos...more.
- 1982 June 24 - Soyuz T-6. Spacecraft: Soyuz T. Mass: 6,850 kg (15,100 lb). Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U.
Manned three crew. Docked with Salyut 7. Transported to the Salyut-7 orbital station the Soviet-French international crew, comprising V A Dzhanibekov (USSR), A S Ivanchenkov (USSR) and Jean-Loup Chretien (France) to conduct scientific research and experiments.
- 1983 June 27 - Soyuz T-9. Spacecraft: Soyuz T. Mass: 6,850 kg (15,100 lb). Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U.
Manned two crew. Docked with Salyut 7. Transported to the Salyut-7 orbital station a crew consisting of V A Lyakhov, commander of the spacecraft, and A P Aleksandrov, flight engineer, to conduct scientific and technical research and experiments.
- 1984 April 3 - Soyuz T-11. Spacecraft: Soyuz T. Mass: 6,850 kg (15,100 lb). Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U.
Manned three crew. Docked with Salyut 7.Transported a Soviet-Indian international crew comprising ship's commander Y V Malyshev, flight engineer G M Strekalov (USSR) and cosmonaut-researcher R Sharma (India) to the SALYUT-7 orbital station to conduct scientific and technical studies and experiments.
- 1984 April 11 - Landing of Soyuz T-10.
Soyuz T-10 landed at 10:50 GMT, 160 km E Dzehezkazgan, with the crew of Malyshev, Sharma and Strekalov aboard.
- 1984 May 18 - EVA Salyut 7 EO-3-5. Spacecraft: Salyut 7.
Installed solar array.
- 1985 July 19 - Cosmos 1669. Spacecraft: Progress. Mass: 7,020 kg (15,470 lb). Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U.
Progress vehicle, given Cosmos designation instead of Progress because control lost early in mission but regained later. Resupplied Salyut 7. On departure briefly undocked and redocked to verify reliability of docking system. Transported of various cargoes to the Salyut-7 orbital station. Docked with Salyut 7 on 21 Jul 1985 15:05:00 GMT. Undocked on 28 Aug 1985 21:50:00 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 30 Aug 1985 01:20:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 3.23 days. Total docked time 38.28 days.
- 1985 August 2 - EVA Salyut 7 EO-4-1. Spacecraft: Mir.
Installed solar array.
- 1985 September 17 - Soyuz T-14. Spacecraft: Soyuz T. Mass: 6,850 kg (15,100 lb). Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U2.
Docked with Salyut 7. Transported a crew comprising ship's commander V V Vasyutin, flight engineer G M Grechko and cosmonaut-researcher A A Volkov to the Salyut-7 orbital station to conduct scientific and technical studies and experiments. Grechko returned in Soyuz T-13 on 25 September 1985 - emergency return.
- 1986 September - Soyuz T-15C (cancelled). Spacecraft: Soyuz T. Mass: 7,150 kg (15,760 lb).
Cancelled all-female flight to be launched on International Woman's Day, to have docked with Mir or Salyut 7. Breakdown of Salyut 7, exhaustion of stock of Soyuz T spacecraft, and official resistance led to cancellation of the mission. Officially cancelled due to birth of Savitskaya's baby. No female cosmonauts would be in training again until a decade later.
- 1991 February 7 - Salyut 7 re-enters. Spacecraft: Salyut 7.
Salyut 7 had been put into a high storage orbit in June 1986, which was supposed to allow it to remain in orbit for ten years before decaying. But much greater than expected solar activity caused the orbit to decay rapidly. By the end of 1990 the station was no longer controllable, and on 7 February 1991 the station came down over South America.
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