Backup Crew: Commander: Aleksei Leonov Valeri Kubasov - Flight Engineer Pyotr Kolodin - Test Engineer Reserve Crew: Commander: Georgi Dobrovolski Vladislav Volkov - Flight Engineer Viktor Patsayev - Test Engineer
Soyuz 10 (Russian: Союз 10, Union 10) was in 1971 the world's first mission to the world's first space station, the Soviet Salyut 1 The docking was not successful and the crew returned to Earth without having entered the station.
Soyuz 10 was launched 22 April 1971 with the plan to dock to Salyut 1. The spacecraft was the first of the upgraded Soyuz 7K-OKS, featuring the new "probe and drogue" docking mechanism with internal crew transfer, intended for visits of space stations.
The Cosmonauts Vladimir Shatalov, Aleksei Yeliseyev and Nikolai Rukavishnikov were able to navigate their Soyuz 10 spacecraft to the Salyut 1 station, yet during docking they ran into problems. While the Soyuz crew was able to achieve "soft dock" with Salyut though the "probe and drogue" docking mechanism, it failed to achieve "hard dock" by securing the docking collar - it was not possible for the crew to enter the station safely.
The mission was aborted, yet the technical problems did not cease and the Soyuz spacecraft had difficulties detaching from the Salyut 1 space station. After finally undocking, one last hitch presented itself when toxic fumes began to fill the capsule during re-entry, causing the cosmonaut Rukavishnikov to pass out - all three crew members were recovered unscathed however.
Only a night landing on Soviet territory was possible, which meant the spacecraft could not be oriented for retrofire. The landing commission started planning for an emergency landing in South America, Africa, or Australia. But Vladimir Shatalov reported the gyroscopes and orientation sensors were functioning well. He proposed that he orient on the dayside, spin up the gyro platform, and let the gyros orient the spacecraft on the night side for retrofire. The plan was followed and the spacecraft was targeted for a landing area 80-100 km southwest of Karaganda. So, it was the first night landing in the history of human spaceflights.
