Soyuz T-9
Mission typeDock with Salyut 7
OperatorNPO Energia
COSPAR ID1983-062A
SATCAT no.14152
Mission duration149 days 10 hours 45 minutes
Orbits completed2,361
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftSoyuz 7K-ST No.16L
Spacecraft typeSoyuz 7K-ST
ManufacturerNPO Energia
Launch mass6,850 kg (15,100 lb)
Landing mass2800 kg
Dimensions7.13 m (23.4 ft) long
2.72 m (8 ft 11 in) wide
Crew
Crew size2
MembersVladimir Lyakhov
Aleksandr Aleksandrov
CallsignProton
Start of mission
Launch date27 June 1983, 09:12:00 UTC
RocketSoyuz-U
Launch siteBaikonur, 1/5
ContractorNPO Energia
End of mission
Landing date23 November 1983, 19:58:00 UTC
Landing site160 km at the east of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Perigee altitude201.0 km (124.9 mi)
Apogee altitude229.0 km (142.3 mi)
Inclination51.6°
Period88.6 minutes
Docking with Salyut 7
Docking portAft
 

Soyuz T-9 (Russian: Союз Т-9, Union T-9) was the 4th expedition to Salyut 7 following the failed docking of Soyuz T-8. It returned lab experiments to Earth. The next mission, Soyuz 7K-ST No.16L (Soyuz 10a), had exploded and thus failed to launch.

Soyuz T-9 achieved successful docking with the station, although the mission was bracketed by the failed attempt of Soyuz T-8 and the launch pad abort of Soyuz T-10 which would follow immediately.[1]

Crew

Position Crew
Commander Soviet Union Vladimir Lyakhov
Second spaceflight
Flight Engineer Soviet Union Aleksandr Aleksandrov
First spaceflight

Backup crew

Position Crew
Commander Soviet Union Vladimir Titov
Flight Engineer Soviet Union Gennadi Strekalov

Mission parameters

  • Mass: 6850 kg
  • Perigee: 201 km
  • Apogee: 229 km
  • Inclination: 51.6°
  • Period: 88.6 minutes

Mission highlights

Fourth expedition to Salyut 7. Its mission was heavily impacted by the Soyuz T-8 docking failure and the Soyuz T-10a Soyuz booster failures which bracketed it.

Almost immediately after docking at Salyut 7's aft port, the crew entered Kosmos 1443 and commenced transferring the 3.5 tons of cargo lining its walls to Salyut 7.[2]

On 27 July 1983, a small object struck a Salyut 7 viewport. It blasted out a 4-mm crater, but did not penetrate the outer of the window's two panes. The Soviets believed it was a member of the Delta Aquariid meteor shower, though it may have been a small piece of orbital debris.[3]

The crew loaded Cosmos 1443's VA capsule with 350 kg of experiment results and hardware no longer in use. It could have held 500 kg, had they had that much to put in. Cosmos 1443 then undocked, in spite of Western predictions that the FGB component would remain attached to Salyut 7 as a space station module. The VA capsule soft-landed on 23 August 1983, and the FGB component continued in orbit until it was deorbited over the Pacific Ocean on 19 September 1983.

The crew also filmed scenes for the movie Return from Orbit.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Yenne, Bill (1988). The Pictorial History of World Spaceflight. Exeter. pp. 158, 165. ISBN 0-7917-0188-3.
  2. ↑ D. S. F. Portree (1995). "Mir Hardware Heritage" (PDF). NASA. pp. 50, 95. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 July 2003. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ↑ "Soyuz T-9". spacefacts.de.
  4. ↑ Vozvrashchenie s orbity (1984) - Trivia - IMDb
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