complete their mission—Soyuz 32 was nearing the end of its rated 90-day space endurance and needed to be replaced with a fresh craft.[1] The Saturns returned safely to Earth on April 12 after a ballistic reentry.[2]
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Progress 6 Salyut 6 Soyuz 32 | May 15-June 8, 1979 |
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Soyuz 34 • Salyut 6 • Soyuz 32 | June 8-13, 1979 | |
| Soyuz 34 replaces Soyuz 32. Progress 6 circularized Salyut 6’s orbit on May 29 in preparation for the arrival of Soyuz 34. Soyuz 34 was launched unmanned to replace Soyuz 32, which had exceeded its 90-day stay limit on May 27. Arrival of Progress 34 helped ensure that Ryumin and Lyakhov would be able to complete their mission. Soyuz 34 also tested improvements to the Soyuz main engine meant to prevent recurrence of the Soyuz 33 failure. The spacecraft delivered 200 kg of cargo. Soyuz 32 returned to Earth unmanned with a cargo of experiment results and malfunctioning Salyut 6 equipment. The equipment was of interest to space station engineers.[3] | |||
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Soyuz 34 • Salyut 6 | June 13-14, 1979 |
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Soyuz 34 • Salyut 6 | June 14-30, 1979 | |
| Port Transfer. The Soviets transferred Soyuz 34 from the aft port to the front port by rotating Salyut 6. This freed the aft port for Progress 7. | |||
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Soyuz 34 • Salyut 6 • Progress 7 | June 30-July 18, 1979 | |
| KRT-10 assembly and deployment. Progress 7 delivered the 350-kg KRT-10
radio telescope. It comprised a total of seven pieces of equipment: antenna reflector, “focal container and supports,” “mechanism for securing the antenna to the station,” control console, “time block,” and a package containing lowfrequency radiometers. The Protons assembled the antenna and its support equipment in the station and Progress 7’s dry cargo compartment over a 2-week period. Ryumin and Lyakhov had not seen the complete system before because the KRT-10 was still being tested and manufactured at the time they were trained to assemble it. Control panels were attached to the conical housing in the large-diameter compartment and data recorders to the station’s “ceiling.” A “cable entrance mechanism” was assembled in the intermediate compartment, behind the device for securing the antenna to the station, which filled the aft port. The diameter of the folded antenna was only 0.5 m. As Progress 7 backed away from the station, Ryumin commanded the antenna to unfold from the aft port. A TV camera on Progress 7 transmitted a blurry image of Salyut 6’s aft port to the TsUP and the TV aboard Salyut 6 as the KRT-10 opened to its full 10-m diameter.[4][5][6] |
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- ↑ Johnson, 1980, p. 365.
- ↑ Ryumin, pp. 8-9.
- ↑ Ryumin, pp. 13-14.
- ↑ Ryumin, p. 15.
- ↑ Johnson, 1980, p. 369-370.
- ↑ N. S. Kardashev, A. I. Savin, M. B. Zakson, A. G. Sokolov, and V. P. Feoktistov, “The First Radio Telescope in Space,” Zemlya i Vselennaya, No. 4, July-August 1980, pp. 2-9. Translated in JPRS 76578, USSR Report, Space, No. 7, October 8, 1980, pp. 1-7.
