Soyuz 27 (Russian: Союз 27, Union 27) was a 1978 Soviet manned spacecraft which flew to the orbiting Salyut 6 space station, during the mission EP-1. It was the third manned flight to the station, and the second successful docking. Once docked, it marked the first time that three spacecraft were docked together.

The main function of the EP-1 mission was to swap Soyuz craft with the orbiting crew, in so doing freeing a docking port for a forthcoming supply tanker. Cosmonauts Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Oleg Makarov returned to earth in the Soyuz 26 spacecraft after spending five days on the station.

SOYUZ 27: FIRST "VISITING" CREW

The first crew to "visit" another in space was Soyuz 27 which docked with Salyut 6 while the Soyuz 26 crew was already on board.

Soyuz 27 (Pamyr) was launched on January 10, 1978 at 1226 GMT with the crew of Col. Vladimir Dzhanibekov and flight engineer Oleg Makarov. The initial orbit was 223x202 km. Docking occurred at 1406 GMT on January 11, and the ship docked at the forward end of the station. The two crews met and shook hands for the television cameras in the working module. (As noted earlier, the Soyuz 26 crew waited in the Soyuz 26 spacecraft while the docking took place.) The visiting crew brought up letters, newspapers, books, and research equipment.

In addition to spending time switching couches from the two Soyuz crafts, the 4 cosmonauts also performed the Cytos and Resonance experiments ( The latter had to do with the dynamics of the three-ship combination, and the Soviets reported that the assembly began to writhe like a snake with the different sections moving in different directions, although they emphasized that the movement was not visible to the eye. The Soviet media reported that the Soyuz 27 crew adapted to weightlessness more quickly that the "old" crew, and attributed this partially to the effect of having experienced men on board who could reassure their colleagues that the sensations would pass.

The crew returned in the Soyuz 26 spacecraft after 5 days on board the station (6 days in space). They landed on January 16, 310 km west of Tselinograd, and although the Soviets did not announce a landing time, it must have been 1119 GMT based on other data they have published. The crew reportedly got out of their spacecraft and walked over the snow covered field.

An interesting observation, Radio Moscow reported that during their first days back on Earth the cosmonauts tried to "swim" out of bed, and found it difficult to walk or even lift a cup of tea. They found standing possible, but were more comfortable lying down. By March 20, however, the men were taking walks, and by March 30, were reported to be regaining their preflight condition, and were doing remedial gymnastics and other exercises. Each had lost 5 kilograms while m orbit In addition to breaking the duration record for a crew, Grechko broke the record for time spent in space by a single individual— 3,023 hours 20 minutes (126 days) compared to 2,017 hours 16 minutes (84 days) for the members of the Skylab 4 crew.