Backup crew

Mission parameters

• Mass: 6800 kg (14,991.4 lb)
• Perigee: 198.4 km (123.3 mi)
• Apogee: 274.3 km (170.4 mi)
• Inclination: 51.61°
• Period: 89.94 minutes

Launch and station activation

Soyuz 32 was launched with its two-man crew on 25 February 1979. The crew's main mission was to overhaul the Salyut 6 space station's systems and prepare it for further long-duration crews. They would also attempt a new record duration flight. Soyuz 32 docked with Salyut 6 the next day, and Lyakhov and Ryumin, the third long-duration crew at the station, commenced de-mothballing the facility which had been vacant since November. When the hatch to the station was opened, the cosmonauts smelled burnt steel

Steel

Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

, a scent Ryumin called the odor of space

Outer space

Outer space is the void that exists between celestial bodies, including the Earth. It is not completely empty, but consists of a hard vacuum containing a low density of particles: predominantly a plasma of hydrogen and helium, as well as electromagnetic radiation, magnetic fields, and neutrinos....

.

The crew started routine activities and two types of medical exams. The first included daily checks of mood, their accomplishments and food intake. The second checked their psychological condition via observing their frequent communication sessions. Their cardiovascular systems were checked every 8 to 10 days, and their body masses measured. By the second week, they exercised 2.5 hours a day, averaged 3,100 calories of daily food

Food

Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...

 intake with 2.5 litres of water

Water

Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...

.

The orbit of the station was raised by the Soyuz craft's propulsion

Spacecraft propulsion

Spacecraft propulsion is any method used to accelerate spacecraft and artificial satellites. There are many different methods. Each method has drawbacks and advantages, and spacecraft propulsion is an active area of research. However, most spacecraft today are propelled by forcing a gas from the...

 system 1 March. What the Soviets did not then report was that the Salyut station's propulsion system was having problems.

Experiments included hatching quail

Quail

Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally considered in the order Galliformes. Old World quail are found in the family Phasianidae, while New World quail are found in the family Odontophoridae...

 eggs, but the chicks grew much slower than on earth, and lacked heads. A videotape recorder was fixed 6 March using a soldering iron

Soldering iron

A soldering iron is a hand tool most commonly used in soldering. It supplies heat to melt the solder so that it can flow into the joint between two workpieces.A soldering iron is composed of a heated metal tip and an insulated handle...

, the first time such repair equipment had been used in space.

Progress 5 arrives

Progress 5, an unmanned supply tanker, was launched 12 March and docked with the station two days later. The crew spent four days unloading the vehicle. Supplies delivered included parts for station repair, an extra storage battery

Battery (electricity)

An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniell cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power...

, a television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 monitor, a new Kristall furnace to replace the old one which had broken, a gamma ray telescope and food. A total of 300 items weighing 1,300 kg were delivered. The tanker also delivered 1,000 kg of propellant for the station.

The Soviets revealed the propulsion problem on 16 March. They said a Salyut fuel tank was leaking fuel into the nitrogen

Nitrogen

Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N, atomic number of 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78.08% by volume of Earth's atmosphere...

 bellows which pressurized the fuel. The station's engine systems were not affected, but valve

Valve

A valve is a device that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically pipe fittings, but are usually discussed as a separate category...

s and regulators in the pressurization system were at potential risk. Accordingly, the crew shut down the tank and used a reserve tank. The crew attempted to drain the leaking tank by rotating the station and succeeded by 23 March, purged the tank with nitrogen and closed it off.

On the same day they cleared the tank, the crew used the station's shower for the first time, wearing scuba

Scuba set

A scuba set is an independent breathing set that provides a scuba diver with the breathing gas necessary to breathe underwater during scuba diving. It is much used for sport diving and some sorts of work diving....

 masks to keep the water out of their eyes.

A milestone was reached 24 March when the cosmonauts installed a television monitor which allowed a two-way television link with ground control. For the first time, cosmonauts received television pictures in space. Seeing family, instead of just hearing them, was considered to have great psychological importance, especially as longer flights were contemplated.

On 30 March, Progress 5 boosted the station's orbit, then Soyuz 32 boosted the orbit again 6 April in preparation for the forthcoming Soyuz 33

Soyuz 33

-Backup crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 51.63°*Period: 88.99 minutes-Mission highlights:...

 crew. Progress 5 was undocked 3 April and deorbited two days later.

Soyuz 33 mission failure

Soyuz 33 was launched 10 April with the fourth international crew in the Soviet Intercosmos

Intercosmos

Interkosmos was a space program of the Soviet Union designed to include members of military forces of allied Warsaw Pact countries in manned and unmanned missions...

 program. Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

n cosmonaut Georgi Ivanov

Georgi Ivanov

Major general Georgi Ivanov Kakalov is a retired Bulgarian military officer and the first Bulgarian cosmonaut. He was a member of the National Assembly of Bulgaria in 1990.-Early life and military career:...

 joined commander Nikolai Rukavishnikov

Nikolai Rukavishnikov

|Nikolai Nikolayevich Rukavishnikov was a Soviet cosmonaut who flew three space missions of the Soyuz programme: Soyuz 10, Soyuz 16, and Soyuz 33...

 as the craft proceeded normally towards the space station. But, as the craft approached to 1,000 metres, the engine failed and shut down after three seconds of a planned six-second burn. Rukavishnikov had to hold the instrument panel as the craft violently shook. A second firing attempt was made, but the engine shut down again, and Ryumin, observing from the station, reported an abnormal lateral glow from behind the Soyuz during the burn. Mission control accordingly aborted the mission and told the crew to prepare to return to earth. It was the first in-orbit failure of the Soyuz propulsion system.

It was only in 1983 that the Soviets revealed how serious the situation was. The craft had a back-up engine but it was feared that it may have been damaged by the main engine, potentially leaving the crew stranded with five days of supplies while it would take ten days for the orbit to decay. The station could have been moved to within 1,000 m of the craft, but the two crafts were drifting apart at 28 metres per second, and time was needed to calculate the maneuvers. In any event, four crew on the station with one malfunctioning Soyuz and a second Soyuz (Soyuz 32) with a now-questionable engine (it had the same type as Soyuz 33) was not considered the best option.

In the end, the backup engine did fire, though for 25 seconds too long, resulting in an unusually steep trajectory and loads of 10 G's to be endured by the crew. Rukavishnikov and Ivanov were safely recovered.

Progress 6, unmanned Soyuz launched

News of the cancellation of the Soyuz 33 flight was greeted by a series of grunts followed by the termination of all voice communication by the Salyut 6 crew. Their bad mood persisted for several days. After the Soyuz 33 failure, the station crew were stuck with a suspect craft. The Soyuz 33 craft was intended to be swapped for the Soyuz 32, but the failure called into question the reliability of Soyuz 32's main engine. Until the design was corrected and a new vehicle launched, the crew was safe on Salyut with the Soyuz usable in an emergency. The fifth international flight, scheduled for 5 June, was postponed.

Lyakhov and Ryumin continued their station activities, including experiments intended to be carried out with the visiting crew (which had been delivered aboard the Progress 5 flight), such as one called Pirin which investigated the formation of metal whiskers on zinc

Zinc

Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...

 crystals, and another which made multi-spectral measurements of the daylight atmosphere. They were given five days off for the May Day

May Day

May Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures....

 holiday.

Progress 6 was launched 13 May and delivered some 100 items. The Soyuz 33 engine failure did not affect the supply tanker as it differed in its design. Unloading took two days, a new navigational unit was installed, and the tanker raised the station's orbit on 22 May. Refueling was completed by 28 May, more orbital adjustments were made 4 and 5 June, and Progress 6 was undocked 8 June.

Soyuz 34, launched unmanned on 6 June, docked at the just-vacated aft port of the space station on 9 June. The Soyuz had a new engine system, and its successful test flight gave the Salyut 6 crew a reliable return vehicle. Since the craft was unmanned, some biological samples for experiments were included on the flight.

Soyuz 32 was loaded with 130 kg of replaced instruments, processed materials, exposed film and other items with a total weight equal to that of the two cosmonauts. On 13 June, it undocked and returned to Earth unmanned 295 km northwest of Dzhezkazgan

Dzhezkazgan

Jezkazgan or Zhezkazgan , formerly known as Dzhezkazgan , is a city in Karagandy Province, Kazakhstan, on a reservoir of the Kara-Kengir River. The city population is of 90,000...

. The next day, the crew redocked Soyuz 34 at the forward port to clear the aft port for Progress 7.

Progress 7, radio telescope deployed, return to Earth

Progress 7 was launched 28 June and docked at Salyut 6 two days later. It carried 1,230 kg of supplies including food, plants, mail and a 10-metre diameter radio telescope

Radio telescope

A radio telescope is a form of directional radio antenna used in radio astronomy. The same types of antennas are also used in tracking and collecting data from satellites and space probes...

. The station's orbit was raised 3 and 4 July to a 399–411 km orbit, the highest at which a Salyut had operated. This was because no more Progress flights were planned for 1979 and the Salyut's propulsion system was suspect, so the decision was to raise the station's orbit as high as possible before the crew returned to Earth. Propellant was transferred by 17 July. When the Progress craft undocked, the wire mesh parabolic telescope was unfurled. A camera aboard the tanker beamed the scene to earth.

The antenna was calibrated and experiments were carried out with it, but the results were not good. It was jettisoned 9 August to clear the aft port, but it got tangled and blocked the port. Accordingly, the crew performed a space walk

Extra-vehicular activity

Extra-vehicular activity is work done by an astronaut away from the Earth, and outside of a spacecraft. The term most commonly applies to an EVA made outside a craft orbiting Earth , but also applies to an EVA made on the surface of the Moon...

 on 15 August to remove the antenna. Ryumin, attached to a tether, used hand rails to get to the antenna and cut it away. Then he and Lyakhov retrieved a materials experiment left on the station's exterior. Because the space walk was so late in the mission, the crew was apprehensive as they were not in the best physical condition to carry it out, so they left letters in the Soyuz return vehicle in case they did not survive.

They packed several experiments in Soyuz 34 and departed the space station 19 August. They landed 170 km southeast of Dzhezkazgan. They became the first crew to use a system of platforms and slides to exit the capsule. They had some trouble speaking for a time after landing, Lyakhov lost 5.5 kg during the flight (Ryumin's weight was the same) and both experienced a 20 per cent reduction in lower leg volume. They recovered in seven days, several days faster than expected.

The mission had lasted 175 days, a new endurance record surpassing the 139-day mission by the Soyuz 29

Soyuz 29

Soyuz 29 was a 1978 manned Soviet space mission to the Salyut 6 space station. It was the fifth mission, the fourth successful docking, and the second long-duration crew for the orbiting station...

crew in 1978.