and green plants in the garden [the Oazis, Fiton, and other plant growth units], turn this high-tech complex into our warm and comfortable, if a little bit unusual, home.[1]
Emergency drills. On September 7 the cosmonauts practiced procedures which would come into play in the event of a depressurization of the station. The cosmonauts used a pressure measurement device called Diusa to calculate the time until the station’s pressure dropped to 500 mm/Hg. This would tell them how long they had to deactivate the station, gather experiment results and records, put on spacesuits, and enter their Soyuz-T. According to Lebedev’s diary, the most dangerous evacuation scenarios were those allowing 5 min or less for an escape. “In such a situation the station could not be saved,” he wrote. He also described a scenario in which their Soyuz-T suffered a leak (they would close the hatch leading into the damaged craft and await a rescue ship). According to Lebedev, “we have permission for an emergency landing anywhere on Earth, although we would certainly do everything to land on Soviet territory, or at least on the ground.” Specific contingency landing areas are the U.S. Midwest (90°-105° W, 42°-49° N), southern France, and the Sea of Okhotsk.[2] A bag containing experiment results was always kept near the Soyuz-T. According to Lebedev, a pressure drop requiring an hour to reach the critical level would give the crew time to locate and repair the leak. This would be done by sealing off the different compartments until the damaged one was identified. In the event of a fire, the crew would turn off all electrical equipment, put on protective suits and respirators, and use a fire extinguisher.[3]
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Progress 15 • Salyut 7 • Soyuz-T 7 | September 20-October 14, 1982 |
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Salyut 7 • Soyuz-T 7 | October 14-November 2, 1982 |
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Progress 16 • Salyut 7 • Soyuz-T 7 | November 2-December 10, 1982 | |
| Iskra 3. Progress 16 delivered the Iskra 3 satellite. It was deployed from the trash airlock on November 18. | |||
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Progress 16 • Salyut 7 | December 10-13, 1982 |
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Salyut 7 | December 13, 1982-March 10, 1983 |
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Salyut 7 • Cosmos 1443 | March 10-June 28, 1983 | |
| Cosmos 1443 docks. The third TKS vehicle was launched on March 2. After docking, the Cosmos 1443 propulsion system was used to lower the average orbit of the combination below 300 km. | |||
