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Soyuz T-4

1981 Soviet crewed spaceflight to Salyut 6

1981 Soviet crewed spaceflight to Salyut 6

FieldValue
nameSoyuz T-4
COSPAR_ID1981-023A
SATCAT12334
mission_duration74 days, 17 hours, 37 minutes, 23 seconds
orbits_completed1,178
spacecraft_typeSoyuz-T
manufacturerNPO Energia
launch_mass6850 kg
launch_dateUTC
launch_rocketSoyuz-U
launch_siteBaikonur 1/5
landing_dateUTC
landing_site125 km E Dzhezkazgan
crew_size2
crew_membersVladimir Kovalyonok
Viktor Savinykh
crew_callsignPhoton
orbit_referenceGeocentric
orbit_regimeLow Earth
orbit_periapsis201 km
orbit_apoapsis250 km
orbit_inclination51.6 degrees
orbit_period88.7 minutes
apsisgee
docking_targetSalyut 6
docking_typedock
docking_dateUTC
undocking_dateUTC
previous_missionSoyuz T-3
next_missionSoyuz 39
programmeSoyuz programme
(Crewed missions)

Viktor Savinykh

(Crewed missions)

Soyuz T-4 was a Soviet space mission which launched the crew of Salyut 6 EO-6, the sixth and final long-duration crew of the Salyut 6 space station. It was launched on 12 March 1981 and docked with the station the next day.

Crew

Backup crew

Mission parameters

  • Mass: 6850 kg
  • Perigee: 201 km
  • Apogee: 250 km
  • Inclination: 51.6°
  • Period: 88.7 minutes

Mission highlights

The docking with Salyut 6 was delayed after the Soyuz's onboard Argon computer determined it would occur outside radio range with the TsUP. Despite this, the docking occurred successfully on 13 March 1981. The Progress 12 spacecraft was already docked to the station by the time the crew arrived, and they spent several days unloading the Progress before its undocking on 19 March. This freed the remaining docking port for the arrival of the Soyuz 39/EP-9 crew on 22 March.

In mid-May, Kovalyonok and Savinykh replaced the spacecraft's probe with a Salyut drogue. This may have been an experiment to see if a Soyuz-T docked to a space station could act as a rescue vehicle in the event that an approaching Soyuz-T equipped with a probe experienced docking difficulties and could not return to Earth.

The EO-6 crew undocked from Salyut 6 on 26 May, leaving behind the Soyuz's orbital module. Soyuz T-4 landed over three hours later, touching down 125 km east of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakh SSR.

References

References

  1. (24 November 2013). "Soyuz T-4". Spacefacts.
  2. Yenne, Bill. (1988). "The Pictorial History of World Spaceflight". Exeter.
  3. D. S. F. Portree. (1995). "Mir Hardware Heritage". NASA.
Info: Wikipedia Source

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