Salyut 7

Salyut 7 (Russian: Салют-7; English: Salute 7) (a.k.a. DOS-6[1]) was a space station in low Earth orbit from April 1982 to February 1991.[1] It was first crewed in May 1982 with two crew via Soyuz T-5, and last visited in June 1986, by Soyuz T-15.[1] Various crew and modules were used over its lifetime, including 12 crewed and 15 uncrewed launches in total.[1] Supporting spacecraft included the Soyuz T, Progress, and TKS spacecraft.[1]

This article is about a space station. For the film, see Salyut 7 (film).
Salyut 7
Salyut 7 photographed following the undocking of Soyuz T-13, 25 September 1985
The insignia of the Salyut Program
Station statistics
COSPAR ID1982-033A
SATCAT no.13138
Crew3
Launch19 April 1982
19:45:00 UTC
Launch padLC-200/40, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Soviet Union
Reentry7 February 1991[1]
Mass19,824 kg
Length16 m (minimum)[1]
Width4.15 m (max)[1]
Pressurised volume90 m³ (minimum)[1]
Periapsis altitude219 km (118.25 nmi)
Apoapsis altitude278 km (150.1 nmi)
Orbital inclination51.6 degrees
Orbital period89.21minutes
Days in orbit3215 days
Days occupied816 days
No. of orbits51,917
Distance travelled2,106,297,129 km
(1,137,309,460 nmi)
Statistics as of de-orbit and reentry
Configuration
Salyut 7 with docked Kosmos 1686 TKS spacecraft

It was part of the Soviet Salyut programme, and launched on 19 April 1982 on a Proton rocket from Site 200/40 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Soviet Union. Salyut 7 was part of the transition from "monolithic" to "modular" space stations, acting as a testbed for docking of additional modules and expanded station operations. It was the tenth space station of any kind launched. Salyut 7 was the last space station of the Salyut Program, which was replaced by Mir.

Description

Salyut 7 was the back-up vehicle for Salyut 6 and very similar in equipment and capabilities. With delays to the Mir programme it was decided to launch the back-up vehicle as Salyut 7. In orbit the station suffered technical failures though it benefited from the improved payload capacity of the visiting Progress and Soyuz craft and the experience of its crews who improvised many solutions (such as a fuel line rupture in September 1983 requiring EVAs by the Soyuz T-10 to repair). It was aloft for eight years and ten months (a record not broken until Mir), during which time it was visited by 10 crews constituting six main expeditions and four secondary flights (including French and Indian cosmonauts). The station also saw two flights of Svetlana Savitskaya making her the second woman in space since 1963 and the first to perform an EVA during which she conducted metal cutting and welding alongside her colleague Vladimir Dzhanibekov.[2] Aside from the many experiments and observations made on Salyut 7, the station also tested the docking and use of large modules with an orbiting space station. The modules were called "Heavy Kosmos modules" though in reality were variants of the TKS spacecraft intended for the cancelled Almaz military space station. They helped engineers develop technology necessary to build Mir.

Equipment
Salyut 7 during assembly.

It had two docking ports, one on either end of the station, to allow docking with the Progress unmanned resupply craft, and a wider front docking port to allow safer docking with a Heavy Kosmos module. It carried three solar panels, two in lateral and one in dorsal longitudinal positions, but they now had the ability to mount secondary panels on their sides. Internally, the Salyut 7 carried electric stoves, a refrigerator, constant hot water and redesigned seats at the command console (more like bicycle seats). Two portholes were designed to allow ultraviolet light in, to help kill infections.[1]The medical, biological and exercise sections were improved, to allow long stays in the station. The BST-1M telescope used in Salyut 6 was replaced by an X-ray detection system.[3]

Salyut 7 was the most advanced and most comfortable space station of the Salyut series. A set of modifications to the interior made it more liveable. There were approximately 20 windows with shades on the Salyut 7. To protect the inside of the windows, they were covered with removable glass panels. The colour scheme was improved and a refrigerator was installed. The ceiling on the Salyut 7 was white; the left wall was apple green and the right one beige [4][5]

Crews and missions
Salyut 7 with docked spacecraft

Following up the use of Kosmos 1267 on Salyut 6, the Soviets launched Kosmos 1443 on 2 March 1983 from a Proton SL-13. It docked with the station on 10 March, and was used by the crew of Soyuz T-9. It jettisoned its recovery module on 23 August, and re-entered the atmosphere on 19 September. Kosmos 1686 was launched on 27 September 1985, docking with the station on 2 October. It did not carry a recovery vehicle, and remained connected to the station for use by the crew of Soyuz T-14. Ten Soyuz T crews operated in Salyut 7. Only two Interkosmos "guest cosmonauts" worked in Salyut 7. The first attempt to launch Soyuz T-10 was aborted on the launch pad when a fire broke out at the base of the vehicle. The payload was ejected, and the crew was recovered safely.

Resident crews

Salyut 7 had six resident crews.

  • The first crew, Anatoli Berezovoy and Valentin Lebedev, arrived on 13 May 1982 on Soyuz T-5 and remained for 211 days until 10 December 1982.[1]
  • On 27 June 1983, the crew of Vladimir Lyakhov and Alexander Alexandrov arrived on Soyuz T-9 and remained for 150 days, until 23 November 1983.
  • On 8 February 1984, Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov and Oleg Atkov began a 237-day stay, the longest on Salyut 7, which ended on 2 October 1984.
  • Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh (Soyuz T-13) arrived at the space station on 6 June 1985 to repair its malfunctions.
  • On 17 September 1985, Soyuz T-14 docked with the station carrying Vladimir Vasyutin, Alexander Volkov and Georgi Grechko. Eight days later Dzhanibekov and Grechko left the station and returned to Earth after 103 days, while Savinyikh, Vasyutin and Volkov remained on Salyut 7 and returned to Earth on 21 November 1985 after 65 days.
  • On 6 May 1986, Soyuz T-15 carrying Leonid Kizim and Vladimir Solovyov docked with the space station and undocked, after a 50-day stay, on 25 June 1986. The Soyuz had come from the Mir space station and returned to Mir on 26 June 1986 in a flight lasting 29 hours.

There were also four visiting missions, crews which came to bring supplies and make shorter duration visits with the resident crews.

Technical and crew problems

The station suffered from two major problems, the first of which required extensive repair work to be performed on a number of EVAs.

Leaks

On 9 September 1983, during the stay of Vladimir Lyakhov and Alexander Alexandrov, while reorienting the station to perform a radiowave transmission experiment, Lyakhov noticed the pressure of one fuel tank was almost zero. Following this, Alexandrov spotted a fuel leak when looking through the aft porthole. Ground control decided to try to repair the damaged pipes, in what was the most complex repair attempted during EVA at the time. This was to be attempted by the next crew, the current one lacking the necessary training and tools. The damage was eventually repaired by Leonid Kizim and Vladimir Solovyov, who needed four EVAs to fix two leaks. A special tool to fix the third leak was delivered by Soyuz T-12, and the leak was subsequently fixed.[6]

Loss of power
The drifting station as seen from the approaching Soyuz T-13.

On 11 February 1985, contact with Salyut 7 was lost. The station began to drift, and all systems shut down. At this time the station was uninhabited, after the departure of Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov and Oleg Atkov, and before the next crew arrived. It was once again decided to attempt to repair the station. The work was performed by Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh on the Soyuz T-13 mission during June 1985, in what was in the words of author David S. F. Portree "one of the most impressive feats of in-space repairs in history".[1] This operation forms the basis of the 2017 Russian film Salyut 7.

All Soviet and Russian space stations were equipped with automatic rendezvous and docking systems, from the first space station Salyut 1 using the Igla system, to the Russian Orbital Segment of the International Space Station using the Kurs system. Upon arrival, on 6 June 1985, the Soyuz crew found the station was not broadcasting radar or telemetry for rendezvous, and after arrival and external inspection of the tumbling station, the crew estimated proximity using handheld laser rangefinders.

Dzhanibekov piloted his ship to intercept the forward port of Salyut 7 and matched the station's rotation. After hard docking to the station and confirming the station's electrical system was dead, Dzhanibekov and Savinykh sampled the station atmosphere prior to opening the hatch. Attired in winter fur-lined clothing, they entered the station to conduct repairs. The fault was eventually found to be an electrical sensor that determined when the batteries needed charging.

Once the batteries were replaced, the station started charging them, and warmed up over the next few days.[6] Within a week sufficient systems were brought back online to allow uncrewed Progress cargo ships to dock with the station.[1]

End of life

Salyut 7 was last inhabited in 1986 by the crew of Soyuz T-15, who ferried equipment from Salyut 7 to the new Mir space station. Between 19 and 22 August 1986, engines on Kosmos 1686 boosted Salyut 7 to a record-high mean orbital altitude of 475 km to forestall reentry until 1994. Retrieval at a future date by a Buran shuttle was also planned.[7]

However, unexpectedly high solar activity in the late 1980s and early 1990s increased atmospheric drag on the station and sped its orbital decay. It finally underwent an uncontrolled reentry on 7 February 1991 over the town of Capitán Bermúdez in Argentina after it overshot its intended entry point, which would have placed its debris in uninhabited portions of the southern Pacific Ocean.[8][9]

Expeditions and visiting spacecraft

Notation:

  • EO (Russian: ЭО, Экспедиция Основная) or PE means Principal Expedition
  • EP (Russian: ЭП, Экспедиция Посещения) or VE means Visiting Expedition

Expeditions
Expedition Crew Launch date Flight up Landing date Flight
down		 Duration
(days)
Salyut 7 – EO-1 Anatoli Berezovoy,
Valentin Lebedev[1]		 13 May 1982
09:58:05 UTC		 Soyuz T-5 10 December 1982
19:02:36 UTC		 Soyuz T-7 211.38
Salyut 7 – EP-1 Vladimir Dzhanibekov,
Aleksandr Ivanchenkov,
Jean-Loup Chrétien – France		 24 June 1982
16:29:48 UTC		 Soyuz T-6 2 July 1982
14:20:40 UTC		 Soyuz T-6 7.91
Salyut 7 – EP-2 Leonid Popov,
Aleksandr Serebrov,
Svetlana Savitskaya		 19 August 1982
17:11:52 UTC		 Soyuz T-7 27 August 1982
15:04:16 UTC		 Soyuz T-5 7.91
Salyut 7 – EO-2 Vladimir Lyakhov,
Aleksandr Pavlovich Aleksandrov		 27 June 1983
09:12:00 UTC		 Soyuz T-9 23 November 1983
19:58:00 UTC		 Soyuz T-9 149.45
Salyut 7 – EO-3 Leonid Kizim,
Vladimir Solovyov,
Oleg Atkov		 8 February 1984
12:07:26 UTC		 Soyuz T-10 2 October 1984
10:57:00 UTC		 Soyuz T-11 236.95
Salyut 7 – EP-3 Yury Malyshev,
Gennady Strekalov,
Rakesh Sharma – India		 3 April 1984
13:08:00 UTC		 Soyuz T-11 11 April 1984
10:48:48 UTC		 Soyuz T-10 7.90
Salyut 7 – EP-4 Vladimir Dzhanibekov,
Svetlana Savitskaya,
Igor Volk		 17 July 1984
17:40:54 UTC		 Soyuz T-12 29 July 1984
12:55:30 UTC		 Soyuz T-12 11.80
Salyut 7 – EO-4-1a Viktor Savinykh 6 June 1985
06:39:52 UTC		 Soyuz T-13 21 November 1985
10:31:00 UTC		 Soyuz T-14 168.16
Salyut 7 – EO-4-1b Vladimir Dzhanibekov 6 June 1985
06:39:52 UTC		 Soyuz T-13 26 September 1985
09:51:58 UTC		 Soyuz T-13 112.13
Salyut 7 – EP-5 Georgi Grechko 17 September 1985
12:38:52 UTC		 Soyuz T-14 26 September 1985
09:51:58 UTC		 Soyuz T-13 8.88
Salyut 7 – EO-4-2 Vladimir Vasyutin,
Alexander Volkov		 17 September 1985
12:38:52 UTC		 Soyuz T-14 21 November 1985
10:31:00 UTC		 Soyuz T-14 64.91
Salyut 7 – EO-5 Leonid Kizim,
Vladimir Solovyov		 13 March 1986
12:33:09 UTC		 Soyuz T-15 16 July 1986
12:34:05 UTC		 Soyuz T-15 125.00
50 on S7

Spacewalks
Spacecraft Spacewalker Start – UTC End – UTC Duration Comments
Salyut 7 – PE-1 – EVA 1 Lebedev, Berezevoi[1] 30 July 1982
02:39		 30 July 1982
05:12		 2 h, 33 min Retrieve experiments
Salyut 7 – PE-2 – EVA 1 Lyakhov, Alexandrov 1 November 1983
04:47		 1 November 1983
07:36		 2 h, 50 min Add solar array
Salyut 7 – PE-2 – EVA 2 Lyakhov, Alexandrov 3 November 1983
03:47		 3 November 1983
06:42		 2 h, 55 min Add solar array
Salyut 7 – PE-3 – EVA 1 Kizim, Solovyov 23 April 1984
04:31		 23 April 1984
08:46		 4 h, 20 min ODU repair
Salyut 7 – PE-3 – EVA 2 Kizim, Solovyov 26 April 1984
02:40		 26 April 1984
07:40		 4 h, 56 min Repair ODU
Salyut 7 – PE-3 – EVA 3 Kizim, Solovyov 29 April 1984
01:35		 29 April 1984
04:20		 2 h, 45 min Repair ODU
Salyut 7 – PE-3 – EVA 4 Kizim, Solovyov 3 May 1984
23:15		 4 May 1984
02:00		 2 h, 45 min Repair ODU
Salyut 7 – PE-3 – EVA 5 Kizim, Solovyov 18 May 1984
17:52		 18 May 1984
20:57		 3 h, 05 min Add solar array
Salyut 7 – VE-4 – EVA 1 Savitskaya, Dzhanibekov 25 July 1984
14:55		 25 July 1984
18:29		 3 h, 35 min First woman EVA
Salyut 7 – PE-3 – EVA 6 Kizim, Solovyov 8 August 1984
08:46		 8 August 1984
13:46		 5 h, 00 min Complete ODU repair
Salyut 7 – PE-4 – EVA 1 Dzhanibekov, Savinykh 2 August 1985
07:15		 2 August 1985
12:15		 5 h, 00 min Augment solar arrays
Salyut 7 – PE-6 – EVA 1 Kizim, Solovyov 28 May 1986
05:43		 28 May 1986
09:33		 3 h, 50 min Test truss, retrieve samples
Salyut 7 – PE-6 – EVA 2 Kizim, Solovyov 31 May 1986
04:57		 31 May 1986
09:57		 5 h, 00 min Test truss

Specifications

Specifications of the baseline 1982 Salyut 7 module, from Mir Hardware Heritage (1995, NASA RP1357):[1]

  • Length – about 16 m
  • Maximum diameter – 4.15 meters
  • Habitable volume – 90 m³
  • Weight at launch – 19,824 kg
  • Launch vehicle – Proton rocket (three-stage)
  • Orbital inclination – 51.6°
  • Span across solar arrays – 17 m
  • Area of solar arrays – 51 m²
  • Number of solar arrays – 3
  • Electricity available – 4.5 kW
  • Resupply carriers – Soyuz-T, Progress, TKS spacecraft
  • Docking System – Igla or manual approach
  • Number of docking ports – 2
  • Total manned missions – 12
  • Total unmanned missions – 15
  • Total long-duration missions – 6
  • Number of main engines – 2
  • Main engine thrust (each) – 300 kg

Visiting spacecraft and crews

(Launched crews. Spacecraft launch and landing dates listed.)

The repair and reactivation of the station by Soyuz T-13 is the subject of the 2017 Russian historical drama Salyut 7.

gollark: So I can't buy (rent) arbitrary amounts.
gollark: Per year.
gollark: Unfortunately, domains cost something like 5 train tickets worth of capital.
gollark: gollarkisthebe.st costs too much.
gollark: Can't you get it yourself now?

See also

References
  1. David Portree – Mir Hardware Heritage (1995) – Page 90-95 – NASA RP1357
  2. "Space welding anniversary!". Orbiter-Forum. Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. 16 July 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  3. "Salyut 7". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  4. Haeuplik-Meusburger, Sandra. (2011). Architecture for astronauts : an activity-based approach. Vienna: SpringerWienNewYork. ISBN 9783709106679. OCLC 759926461.
  5. Bluth, B. J. (1986). Soviet space stations as analogs. NASA headquarters. OCLC 33099311.
  6. Leaving Earth, by Robert Zimmerman, ISBN 0-309-08548-9, 2003.
  7. Astronautix, Salyut 7.
  8. aero.org, Spacecraft Reentry FAQ:
  9. McQuiston, John T. (7 February 1991). "Salyut 7, Soviet Station in Space, Falls to Earth After 9-Year Orbit". New York Times. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
Preceded by
Salyut 6		 Salyut programme
1982–1991		 Succeeded by
Mir
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