Salyut 6 - Vladimir Kovalyonok EO-6 - Viktor Savinykh
The Salyut Space Missions
Cosmonauts: -
See Soyuz Programme
Salyut 6
Salyut 6 (DOS-5) (Russan: Салют-6; English: Salute 6) was launched on September 29, 1977. Salyut 6 was visited from 1977 until 1981 by 16 manned spacecraft, bringing five long-duration crews ("expeditions") and 11 short-term crews. The very first long-duration crew on Salyut 6 broke a record set on board Skylab, staying 96 days in orbit. The short-term crews included foreign cosmonauts from the InterKosmos programme setting several firsts: the first citizen in space of a nation other than the United States or the Soviet Union, the first black and Hispanic person in space and the first Asian person in space. The longest flight on board Salyut 6 lasted 185 days. The fourth Salyut 6 expedition deployed a 10-meter radio-telescope antenna delivered by an uncrewed cargo spacecraft.
After Salyut 6 manned operations were discontinued in 1981, a heavy unmanned spacecraft called TKS and developed using hardware left from the canceled Almaz program was docked to the station as a hardware test. Some unconfirmed reports say the station was functionally capable of even more missions and years, but combating the ever-increasing mold in living quarters was becoming impossible, and in practice caused the retirement decision. Salyut 6 was deorbited July 29, 1982.
