Having proved with the missions over the year end of 1977 to 1978, that Salyut 6 was fully operational, it was ready for a steady period of operation. Soyuz 29 hosted two visiting international crews, the second of which used the Soyuz 29 spacecraft to return to Earth.
This effectively gave the game away as regards the reason for the international flights. As the Soviet Union gradually extended the duration of its piloted missions, crews started to stay in space for periods of time which would take Soyuz beyond its safe time limit in orbit. It became necessary for cosmonauts to go into space and retrieve Soyuz spacecraft and leave new ones behind. This led to the availability of "spare" seats on trips to orbit. These were then given away to other eastern bloc and communist countries. Foreign cosmonauts were taken on one week trips to Salyut 6.
| Date |
Time (UTC) |
Event |
| 1978 Jun 15 |
20:16 |
Soyuz 29 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 193 x 248 kilometre orbit with Vladimir Kovalyonok and Aleksandr Ivanchenkev aboard |
| 1978 Jun 16 |
21:58 |
Soyuz 29 docks at the forward port of Salyut 6 - orbit is 339 x 355 kilometres |
| 1978 Jun 27 |
15:27 |
Soyuz 30 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 198 x 239 kilometre orbit with Pyotr Klimuk and Miroslav Hermaszewski (Poland) aboard |
| 1978 Jun 28 |
17:07 |
Soyuz 30 docks at the aft port of Salyut 6 - orbit is 334 x 343 kilometres |
| 1978 Jul 5 |
10:15 |
Soyuz 30 undocks with Klimuk and Hermaszewski aboard |
| 1978 Jul 5 |
13:30 |
Soyuz 30 lands - 328 kilometres west of Tselinograd |
| 1978 Jul 7 |
11:26 |
Progress 2 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 183 x 235 kilometre orbit |
| 1978 Jul 9 |
12:58 |
Progress 2 docks at the aft port of Salyut 6 - orbit is 331 x 338 kilometres |
| 1978 Jul 29 |
03:57 |
Kovalyonok and Ivanchenkev start space walk to retrieve samples of materials stored on the exterior of Salyut 6 |
| 1978 Jul 29 |
06:02 |
Kovalyonok and Ivanchenkev complete space walk after 2 hr-5 min |
| 1978 Aug 2 |
04:57 |
Progress 2 undocks |
| 1978 Aug 4 |
01:31 |
Progress 2 fires its manoeuvring engine to initiate re-entry |
| 1978 Aug 4 |
02:15 |
Approx time - Progress 2 enters the Earth atmosphere above the southern Pacific Ocean and is destroyed by frictional heating |
| 1978 Aug 7 |
22:31 |
Progress 3 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 190 x 232 kilometre orbit |
| 1978 Aug 9 |
23:59 |
Progress 3 docks at the aft port of Salyut 6 - orbit is 327 x 355 kilometres |
| 1978 Aug 21 |
15:42 |
Progress 3 undocks |
| 1978 Aug 23 |
16:45 |
Progress 3 fires its manoeuvring engine to initiate re-entry |
| 1978 Aug 23 |
17:30 |
Approx time - Progress 3 enters the Earth atmosphere above the southern Pacific Ocean and is destroyed by frictional heating |
| 1978 Aug 26 |
14:51 |
Soyuz 31 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 193 x 243 kilometre orbit with Valeri Bykovsky and Sigmund Jahn (German Democratic Republic) aboard - the first international space crew to go into orbit |
| 1978 Aug 27 |
16:37 |
Soyuz 31 docks at the aft port of Salyut 6 - orbit is 337 x 355 kilometres |
| 1978 Sep 3 |
08:23 |
Soyuz 29 undocks with Bykovsky and Jahn aboard |
| 1978 Sep 3 |
11:40 |
Soyuz 29 lands |
| 1978 Sep 7 |
10:53 |
Kovalyonok and Ivanchenkev undock Soyuz 31, wait for Salyut 6 to execute a 180 degree turn, and re-dock with the forward port of Salyut 6 - the operation takes approx 70 minutes |
| 1978 Oct 3 |
23:09 |
Progress 4 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 185 x 248 kilometre orbit |
| 1978 Oct 6 |
01:00 |
Progress 4 docks at the aft port of Salyut 6 - orbit is 321 x 340 kilometres |
| 1978 Oct 24 |
13:01 |
Progress 4 undocks |
| 1978 Oct 26 |
16:28 |
Progress 4 fires its manoeuvring engine to initiate re-entry |
| 1978 Oct 26 |
17:15 |
Approx time - Progress 4 enters the Earth atmosphere above the southern Pacific Ocean and is destroyed by frictional heating |
| 1978 Nov 2 |
07:46 |
Soyuz 31 undocks with Kovalyonok and Ivanchenkev aboard |
| 1978 Nov 2 |
11:04 |
Soyuz 31 lands - 180 kilometres south-east of Dzhezhkazgan |
