Soyuz 7

Soyuz 7 (Russian: Союз 7, Union 7) was part of a joint mission with Soyuz 6 and Soyuz 8 that saw three Soyuz spacecraft in orbit together at the same time, carrying a total of seven cosmonauts.

This article is about a 1969 spaceflight. For the proposed carrier rocket, see Soyuz-7 (rocket). For the mission identified by NASA as ISS Soyuz 7, see Soyuz TMA-3.

Soyuz 7
Filipchenko, Volkov and Gorbatko on a 1969 commemorative stamp of Soviet Union
Mission typeTest flight
OperatorSoviet space program
COSPAR ID1969-086A [1]
SATCAT no.04124
Mission duration4 days 22 hours 40 minutes 23 seconds
Orbits completed80
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftSoyuz 7K-OK No.7
Spacecraft typeSoyuz 7K-OK (passive)
ManufacturerExperimental Design Bureau (OKB-1)
Launch mass6570 kg
Landing mass1200 kg
Crew
Crew size3
MembersAnatoly Filipchenko
Vladislav Volkov
Viktor Gorbatko
CallsignБуран (Buran - "Blizzard")
Start of mission
Launch date12 October 1969, 10:44:42 GMT [2]
RocketSoyuz
Launch siteBaikonur, Site 1/5 [3]
End of mission
Landing date17 October 1969, 09:25:05 GMT
Landing site155 km at the northwest of Karaganda, Kazakhstan
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit [4]
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Perigee altitude210.0 km
Apogee altitude223.0 km
Inclination51.65°
Period88.77 minutes
 

The crew consisted of commander Anatoly Filipchenko, flight engineer Vladislav Volkov and research-cosmonaut Viktor Gorbatko, whose mission was to dock with Soyuz 8 and transfer crew, as the Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 missions did. Soyuz 6 was to film the operation from nearby.

However, this objective was not achieved due to equipment failures. Soviet sources later claimed that no docking had been intended, but this seems unlikely, given the docking adapters carried by the spacecraft, and the fact that the Soyuz 8 crew were both veterans of the previous successful docking mission. This was the last time that the Soviet crewed Moon landing hardware was tested in orbit, and the failure seems to have been one of the final nails in the coffin of the programme.

The radio call sign of the spacecraft was Buran, meaning blizzard, which years later was re-used as the name of the entirely different spaceplane Buran. This word is apparently used as the name of an active or aggressive squadron in Soviet military training, and just like Soyuz 4, the Soyuz 7 spacecraft was constructed to be the active or male spacecraft in its docking.

Crew
Position Cosmonaut
Commander Anatoly Filipchenko
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer Vladislav Volkov
First spaceflight
Research Engineer Viktor Gorbatko
First spaceflight

Backup Crew
Position Cosmonaut
Commander Vladimir Shatalov
Flight Engineer Aleksei Yeliseyev
Research Engineer Pyotr Kolodin

Reserve Crew
Position Cosmonaut
Commander Andriyan Nikolayev
Flight Engineer Georgy Grechko

Mission parameters
  • Mass: 6,570 kg (14,480 lb) [1]
  • Perigee: 210.0 km (130.5 mi) [4]
  • Apogee: 223.0 km (138.6 mi)
  • Inclination: 51.65°
  • Period: 88.77 minutes

Mission

The mission objectives included: [1]

  • checkout the modified structure of the Soyuz craft,
  • further improvement of the control, orientation, and orbital stabilisation systems and navigation aids,
  • debugging the piloting systems by orbital maneuvering of the spaceships in relation to one another,
  • testing of a system for control of the simultaneous flight of three spacecraft,
  • scientific observations and photographing of geological-geographical subjects and exploration of the Earth's atmosphere,
  • studying circumterrestrial space,
  • conducting experiments of engineering research and biomedical engineering importance.

Return

The ship was involved in group flight with Soyuz 6 and Soyuz 8. Docking did not occur, and the ship landed 5 days after launch, at 155 km at the northwest of Karaganda, Kazakhstan.

References
  1. "Display: Soyuz 7 - 1969-086A". NASA. 14 May 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. "Launchlog". Jonathan's Space Report. 28 September 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  3. "Baikonur LC1". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 15 April 2009. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
  4. "Trajectory: Soyuz 7 1969-086A". NASA. 14 May 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
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