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return to Earth before their ferry’s batteries became depleted. Engineers theorized that the Salyut 6 forward port might have been damaged during ascent, or that the Soyuz 25 docking unit was at fault. If the latter was true (and they could not be certain, because the docking unit was discarded before reentry, along with the Soyuz 25 orbital module), then it was possible that the several hard docking attempts had damaged the Salyut 6 forward port, making it unfit for future dockings.[1]
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Salyut 6 | October 10-December 11, 1977 |
2.7.3.1 Salyut 6 Principal Expedition 1
Yuri Romanenko, Georgi Grechko
Crew code name—Tamyr
Launched in Soyuz 26, December 10, 1977
Landed in Soyuz 27, March 16, 1978
96 days in space
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Salyut 6 • Soyuz 26 | December 11, 1977-January 11, 1978 | |
| Soyuz 26 docks at aft port, EVA inspection of front port. The Tamyrs docked with the station’s aft port because of the Soyuz 25 failure. On December 20 they conducted the first EVA from a Salyut space station. They depressurized the forward transfer compartment and opened the forward docking port. Grechko and Romanenko inspected the forward docking port drogue and docking collar. They beamed color TV images of the unit to the TsUP in Moscow. Grechko reported, “All of the docking equipment—lamps, electric sockets, latches—all is in fine order.” The spacewalk lasted about 20 min, and depressurization lasted about 90 min. They repressurized the transfer compartment from storage tanks—a procedure first tested by the Soyuz 24 crew on Salyut 5 in February 1977. Their inspection confirmed that the Soyuz 25 spacecraft docking unit was at fault in its failure to hard dock, and that its docking attempts had left the Salyut 6 front port undamaged. During this period, the Tamyrs extensively tested the Salyut 6’s Delta automatic navigational system. On December 29 the Soyuz 26 main engine raised Salyut 6’s orbit. Because Soyuz 26 was at the aft port, Salyut 6’s own engines could not be used to raise its orbit.[2][3] | |||
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Soyuz 27 • Salyut 6 • Soyuz 26 | January 11-16, 1978 | |
| Soyuz 27 arrives at Salyut 6. The Soviets hurried to take advantage of the undamaged Salyut 6 forward port. Soyuz 27 docked without incident at the front port carrying cosmonauts Oleg Makarov and Vladimir Dzhanibekov, who formed the first Visiting Expedition crew in the Soviet space station program (or, for that matter, in any space station program). For the docking, the Tamyrs withdrew to their Soyuz 26 spacecraft and sealed the hatch into Salyut 6 behind them. This was done in the event of a depressurization emergency associated with the docking of Soyuz 27. There was also some concern that | |||
