Soyuz 14

Soyuz 14 (Russian: Союз 14, Union 14) was a 1974 crewed spaceflight to the Salyut 3 space station. Soyuz 14 is also the name given to the Soyuz spacecraft which was used to bring the cosmonauts to and from the station. The mission was part of the Soviet Union's Almaz program to evaluate the military applications of human spaceflight. The mission's crew members were cosmonauts Yuri Artyukhin and Pavel Popovich. At the time, the military nature of this mission and the station itself were not acknowledged by Soviet authorities. The flight was the first successful mission to a space station by the Soviets.[2] The mission proved to be the only one for Salyut 3 as Soyuz 15 failed to dock with the station in August and the station was de-orbited January 1975. With the American Skylab missions now complete, the flight marked the start of the monopoly of crewed space activities by the Soviets until the 1981 launch of STS 1, the first space shuttle flight, save for the joint Apollo-Soyuz flight of 1975.[3]

This article is about a 1974 spaceflight. For the mission identified by NASA as ISS Soyuz 14, see Soyuz TMA-10.
Soyuz 14
COSPAR ID1974-051A
SATCAT no.07361
Mission duration15 days, 17 hours, 30 minutes, 28 seconds
Orbits completed255
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft typeSoyuz 7K-T/A9
ManufacturerNPO Energia
Launch mass6,800 kilograms (15,000 lb)
Crew
Crew size2
MembersPavel Popovich
Yuri Artyukhin
CallsignБеркут (Berkut - "Golden Eagle")
Start of mission
Launch dateJuly 3, 1974, 18:51:08 (1974-07-03UTC18:51:08Z) UTC
RocketSoyuz
Launch siteBaikonur 1/5[1]
End of mission
Landing dateJuly 19, 1974, 12:21:36 (1974-07-19UTC12:21:37Z) UTC
Landing site140 kilometres (87 mi) SE of Dzhezkazgan
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth
Perigee altitude195 kilometres (121 mi)
Apogee altitude217 kilometres (135 mi)
Inclination51.6 degrees
Period88.6 minutes
Docking with Salyut 3
Soyuz programme
(Crewed missions)
 

Crew
Position Cosmonaut
Commander Pavel Popovich
Second and last spaceflight
Flight Engineer Yuri Artyukhin
Only spaceflight

Backup crew
Position Cosmonaut
Commander Gennadi Sarafanov
Flight Engineer Lev Dyomin

Reserve crew
Position Cosmonaut
Commander Boris Volynov
Flight Engineer Vitali Zholobov

Mission parameters
  • Mass: 6,800 kg (15,000 lb)
  • Perigee: 195 km (121 mi)
  • Apogee: 217 km (135 mi)
  • Inclination: 51.6°
  • Period: 88.6 min

Mission highlights

With the Salyut 3 space station successfully launched on 24 June 1974, Soyuz 14 was sent into orbit nine days later, on 3 July. The craft docked with the space station the next day, performing a manual approach for the last 100 metres.[3] The crew tested the suitability of Salyut 3 as a crewed military reconnaissance platform. They also tested Almaz station systems, such as the solar arrays.[2]

Increased solar activity raised safety issues, but it was decided radiation levels were within safe limits, so the flight continued.[3]

Experiments were described by the Soviets, but analysts presumed that much time was taken up with unreported military activities. Claims were made in the aerospace press that objects were laid out at the Baikonur Cosmodrome to photograph to test a high-resolution camera system on board.[3] Some of the experiments the Soviets described included studies of the heart and circulatory systems in orbit, studies of intracranial pressure, monitoring of blood composition, measuring of lung capacity and inhalation/exhalation rates and the testing of a water purification system which condensed moisture from the station's atmosphere.[3]

The cosmonauts exercised for two hours each day to counter the effects of weightlessness. Because of this, they were able to climb from their Soyuz descent module without assistance when their flight ended on 19 July. The crew left enough supplies on Salyut 3 to last the next crew at least six months.[2]

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References
  1. "Baikonur LC1". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2009-04-15. Retrieved 2009-03-04.
  2. Newkirk, Dennis (1990). Almanac of Soviet Manned Space Flight. Houston, Texas: Gulf Publishing Company. ISBN 0-87201-848-2.
  3. Clark, Phillip (1988). The Soviet Manned Space Program. New York: Orion Books, a division of Crown Publishers, Inc. ISBN 0-517-56954-X.
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