Soyuz T-9
| Mission duration | 149 days, 10 hours, 45 minutes, | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orbits completed | 2,361 | ||||
| Spacecraft properties | |||||
| Spacecraft type | Soyuz-T | ||||
| Manufacturer | NPO Energia | ||||
| Launch mass | 6,850 kilograms (15,100 lb) | ||||
| Crew | |||||
| Crew size | 2 | ||||
| Members |
Vladimir Lyakhov Aleksandr Aleksandrov | ||||
| Callsign | Proton | ||||
| Start of mission | |||||
| Launch date | June 27, 1983, 09:12:00 UTC | ||||
| Rocket | Soyuz-U | ||||
| Launch site | Baikonur 1/5 | ||||
| End of mission | |||||
| Landing date | November 23, 1983, 19:58:00 UTC | ||||
| Landing site | 160 kilometres (99 mi) E of Dzhezkazgan | ||||
| Orbital parameters | |||||
| Reference system | Geocentric | ||||
| Regime | Low Earth | ||||
| Perigee | 201 kilometres (125 mi) | ||||
| Apogee | 229 kilometres (142 mi) | ||||
| Inclination | 51.6 degrees | ||||
| Period | 88.6 minutes | ||||
| Docking with Salyut 7 | |||||
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Soyuz T-9 (Russian: Союз Т-9, Union T-9) was the 4th expedition to Salyut 7 following the failed docking of Soyuz T-8. Returned lab experiments to earth. The next mission, Soyuz T-10a, had failed to launch due to a fire.
Crew
| Position | Crew | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander | Vladimir Lyakhov Second spaceflight | |
| Flight Engineer | Aleksandr Aleksandrov First spaceflight | |
Backup crew
| Position | Crew | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander | Vladimir Titov | |
| Flight Engineer | Gennady Strekalov | |
Mission parameters
- Mass: 6850 kg
- Perigee: 201 km
- Apogee: 229 km
- Inclination: 51.6°
- Period: 88.6 minutes
Mission highlights
4th expedition to Salyut 7. Its mission was heavily impacted by the Soyuz T-8 docking failure and the Soyuz T-10a Soyuz booster failures which bracketed it.
Almost immediately after docking at Salyut 7’s aft port, the crew entered Cosmos 1443 and commenced transferring the 3.5 tons of cargo lining its walls to Salyut 7.
Window impact: On July 27 a small object struck a Salyut 7 viewport. It blasted out a 4-mm crater, but did not penetrate the outer of the window’s two panes. The Soviets believed it was a member of the Delta Aquariid meteor shower, though it may have been a small piece of orbital debris.
The crew loaded Cosmos 1443’s VA capsule with 350 kg of experiment results and hardware no longer in use. It could have held 500 kg, had they had that much to put in. Cosmos 1443 then undocked, in spite of Western predictions that the FGB component would remain attached to Salyut 7 as a space station module. The VA capsule soft-landed on August 23, and the FGB component continued in orbit until it was deorbited over the Pacific Ocean on September 19.
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