Soyuz 17 (, ''Union 17'') was the first of two long-duration missions to the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
's
Salyut 4 space station
A space station (or orbital station) is a spacecraft which remains orbital spaceflight, in orbit and human spaceflight, hosts humans for extended periods of time. It therefore is an artificial satellite featuring space habitat (facility), habitat ...
in 1975. The flight by cosmonauts
Aleksei Gubarev and
Georgy Grechko set a Soviet mission-duration record of 29 days, surpassing the 23-day record set by the ill-fated
Soyuz 11 crew aboard
Salyut 1
Salyut 1 (), also known as DOS-1 (Durable Orbital Station 1), was the world's first space station. It was launched into low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on April 19, 1971. The Salyut programme, ''Salyut'' program subsequently achieved five m ...
in 1971.
Crew
Backup crew
Reserve crew
Mission parameters
*Mass:
[ ]
*Perigee:
[ ]
*Apogee:
*Inclination: 51.6°
*Period: 91.7 minutes
Mission highlights
Salyut 4 was launched 26 December 1974, and Soyuz 17, with
cosmonauts Georgy Grechko and
Aleksei Gubarev as its first crew, was launched 16 days later on 10 January 1975.
Gubarev manually docked Soyuz 17 to the station on 12 January 1975, and upon entering the new station he and Grechko found a note from its builders which said, "Wipe your feet"!
[
Salyut 4 was in an unusually high circular orbit of when Soyuz 17 docked with the station. Salyut designer Konstantin Feoktistov said this was to ensure propellant consumption would be half of what was needed for lower-altitude Salyuts.][ One of their activities included testing communication equipment for tracking ships and contacting mission control via a Molniya satellite.][ ]Astrophysics
Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...
was a major component of the mission, with the station's solar telescope
A solar telescope or a solar observatory is a special-purpose telescope used to observe the Sun. Solar telescopes usually detect light with wavelengths in, or not far outside, the visible spectrum. Obsolete names for Sun telescopes include helio ...
activated on 16 January 1975.[ The crew later discovered that the main mirror of the telescope had been ruined by direct exposure to sunlight when the pointing system failed. They resurfaced the mirror on 3 February 1975 and worked out a way of pointing the telescope using a stethoscope, stopwatch, and the noises the moving mirror made in its casing.][
On 14 January 1975, a ventilation hose was set up from Salyut 4 to keep the Soyuz ventilated while its systems were shut down.][ On 19 January 1975, it was announced that ion sensors were being used to orient the station, a system described as being more efficient.][ A new ]teleprinter
A teleprinter (teletypewriter, teletype or TTY) is an electromechanical device that can be used to send and receive typed messages through various communications channels, in both point-to-point (telecommunications), point-to-point and point- ...
was used for communications from the ground crew, freeing the Salyut crew from constant interruptions during their work.[
The cosmonauts began powering down the station on 7 February 1975 and they returned to ]Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
in the Soyuz capsule two days later, on 9 February 1975.[ They safely landed near Tselinograd in a snowstorm with winds of 72 km/h and wore gravity suits to ease the effects of re-adaptation.][
Soyuz-17 Cliff in Antarctica is named after the mission.
]
References
{{Portal bar, Spaceflight, Soviet Union
Crewed Soyuz missions
1975 in the Soviet Union
Spacecraft launched in 1975
Spacecraft which reentered in 1975
Spacecraft launched by Soyuz rockets