Orbital Focus - International Spaceflight Facts and Figures
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The DOS Space Stations


Tyneside, UK
2025 Feb 18
Tuesday, Day 49

Curated by:










Salyut 1




Salyut 4




Salyut 6




Salyut 7




The next Salyut gets a new name
Third Expedition to Salyut 6 - Feb to Aug 1979

1979 started off looking as though it would be a routine year - a lengthening of the duration record and a further series of foreign cosmonaut visits.

As it happened, Georgi Ivanov of Bulgaria got the ride of a lifetime when Soyuz 33's propulsion system developed a leak and shut down. His Soviet commander, Nikolai Rukavishnikov, flew Soyuz 33 back to Earth by the seat of his pants - a true space hero!

Soyuz 33's failure curtailed activities for the rest of the year with the major other event being replacement of the ageing Soyuz 32 by Soyuz 34 - flown into orbit without a crew. Subsequently, Soyuz 32 returned to Earth with no crew aboard, leaving cosmonauts Lyakhov and Ryumin a fresher (and safer) vehicle in which to return to Earth themselves.

Date Time (UTC) Event
1979 Feb 25 11:54 Soyuz 32 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 193 x 256 kilometre orbit with Vladimir Lyakhov and Valery Ryumin aboard
1979 Feb 26 13:19 Soyuz 32 docks at the forward port of Salyut 6 - orbit is 296 x 307 kilometres
1979 Mar 12 05:47 Progress 5 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 183 x 256 kilometre orbit
1979 Mar 14 07:19 Progress 5 docks at the aft port of Salyut 6 - the automatic control system completes the manoeuvre 4 minutes early - orbit is 294 x 325 kilometres
1979 Mar 16 Lyakhov and Ryumin commence work to seal-off one of Salyut 6 propellant tanks which has developed a leak
1979 Apr 3 16:10 Progress 5 undocks
1979 Apr 5 00:10 Progress 5 fires its manoeuvring engine to initiate re-entry
1979 Apr 5 00:55 Approx time - Progress 5 enters the Earth atmosphere above the southern Pacific Ocean and is destroyed by frictional heating
1979 Apr 10 14:34 Soyuz 33 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 194 x 261 kilometre orbit with Nikolai Rukavishnikov and Georgi Ivanov (Bulgaria) aboard
1979 Apr 11 18:54 Soyuz 33 is approaching Salyut 6 but it main engine shuts down during the final docking run - at the same time, Salyut 6 cosmonauts Lyakhov and Ryumin observe a glow from Soyuz 33 engine compartment - orbit of Soyuz 33 is 292 x 353 kilometres
1979 Apr 12 15:47 Soyuz 33 commander Rukavishnikov initiates firing of of Soyuz 33 back-up retro-rocket manually - he shuts it down after a longer-than-necessary burn in order to guarantee re-entry and avoid being stranded in space
1979 Apr 12 16:35 Soyuz 33 lands - 320 kilometres south-east of Dzhezhkazgan - after re-entry along a ballistic trajectory, rather than using the controlled, lifting re-entry normally employed by Soyuz - peak loading was 8-10 'g' rather than the norm of 3-4 'g'
1979 May 13 04:17 Progress 6 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 190 x 247 kilometre orbit
1979 May 15 06:19 Progress 6 docks at the aft port of Salyut 6 - orbit is 322 x 340 kilometres
1979 Jun 6 18:12 Soyuz 34 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 192 x 254 kilometre orbit - it has no crew aboard as its mission is to replace the time-expired Soyuz 32, and permit the Salyut 6 crew to remain in orbit - its rocket motor is also considered safer as a result of modifications made following the Soyuz 33 failure
1979 Jun 8 07:59 Progress 6 undocks
1979 Jun 8 20:02 Soyuz 34 docks at the aft port of Salyut 6 - orbit is 351 x 363 kilometres
1979 Jun 9 18:52 Progress 6 fires its manoeuvring engine to initiate re-entry
1979 Jun 9 19:35 Approx time - Progress 6 enters the Earth atmosphere above the southern Pacific Ocean and is destroyed by frictional heating
1979 Jun 13 09:51 Soyuz 32 undocks with no crew aboard - keeping it in orbit would take it past the three-month safety limit imposed on piloted flights of Soyu,z and there is uncertainty about the state of its manoeuvring engine following the Soyuz 33 failure
1979 Jun 13 16:19 Soyuz 32 lands - 295 kilometres south-east of Dzhezhkazgan
1979 Jun 14 16:18 Lyakhov and Ryumin undock Soyuz 34, wait for Salyut 6 to execute a 180 degree turn, and re-dock with the forward port of Salyut 6 - the operation takes approx 90 minutes
1979 Jun 28 09:25 Progress 7 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 186 x 251 kilometre orbit - part of its cargo is the KRT-10 radio telescope
1979 Jun 30 11:18 Progress 7 docks at the aft port of Salyut 6 - orbit is 353 x 391 kilometres
1979 Jul 18 03:49 Progress 7 undocks - the 10 metre diameter parabolic dish aerial of the KRT-10 unfurls as it is released from the docking tunnel between Progress 7 and Salyut 6, where it was installed by the Salyut 6 crew - Progress 7 then orbits close by Salyut 6 so its TV cameras can be used to monitor progress of the aerial being erected
1979 Jul 20 01:57 Progress 7 fires its manoeuvring engine to initiate re-entry
1979 Jul 20 02:40 Approx time - Progress 7 enters the Earth atmosphere above the southern Pacific Ocean and is destroyed by frictional heating
1979 Aug 9 Work with the KRT-10 radio telescope is completed - from inside Salyut 6, Lyakhov and Ryumin attempt to jettison the aerial - it becomes entangled with some of Salyut 6 external projections
1979 Aug 15 14:16 Lyakhov and Ryumin start space walk to free entangled KRT-10 - Ryumin uses wire cutters and a his spacesuit boot to complete the job - they also retrieve material samples stored on the exterior of Salyut 6
1979 Aug 15 15:39 Lyakhov and Ryumin complete space walk after 1 hr-23 min
1979 Aug 19 09:07 Soyuz 34 undocks with Lyakhov and Ryumin aboard
1979 Aug 19 12:29 Soyuz 34 lands - 170 kilometres south-east of Dzhezhkazgan
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