Save Salyut-7. The true story of the feat of Soviet cosmonauts

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

What exactly happened on board, it was not possible to establish from Earth. Only the possibility of complete destruction of the station was ruled out: with the help of optical means of the anti-missile defense system, the Salyut-7 was perceived as an integral object.

On February 12, 1985, the Mission Control Center lost contact with the Salyut-7 orbital station. At that time, the station was flying in automatic mode.

In the summer of 1985, Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh carried out a truly impossible mission in Earth orbit.

Miracle of Soviet technology

Launched into orbit in April 1982, the Salyut-7 station was the last word in design thought of its time. It was the second generation of the Long-Term Orbital Station (DOS) project. The operational life of Salyut-7 was designed for 5 years: no orbital complex had previously been developed for use for such a long period.

In the early eighties, the Soviet Union, at the expense of orbital stations, was rapidly recouping for the lag in the space program that arose after the lost "lunar race". The Americans were tightly stuck in the Space Shuttle program, which did not provide orbit for a long time. In October 1984, the crew of the third main expedition Salyut-7, consisting of Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Soloviev and Oleg Atkovbrought the record for the duration of one space flight to a fantastic 237 days for those times.

And now, two years before the expiration of the planned resource, the station has turned into a heap of dead metal rushing in orbit. The entire manned program of the USSR was in jeopardy.

Model of the Salyut-7 station with docked Soyuz and Progress spacecraft in the VDNKh pavilion. Photo of 1985.

Expedition to a dead station

Among the specialists there were many who considered the situation insoluble and offered to come to terms with what had happened. But the majority supported another option: to send a rescue expedition to Salyut-7.

The history of astronautics did not know anything of the kind. The crew had to go to a dead station that does not give signals, which, moreover, rotates chaotically in space. It was necessary to dock with it and establish whether it is possible to restore working capacity.

The risk was enormous: the cosmonauts could collide with an uncontrolled station, they could dock and get stuck on it forever, they could be poisoned by combustion products if there was a fire on Salyut-7.

Such a mission required special training, but the time for it was extremely limited. Ballisticians assumed that Salyut-7 would slowly descend and, in about six months, would leave orbit. Then, to the loss of the station, its uncontrolled fall will be added: perhaps to one of the major cities or even to a nuclear power plant.

The best of the best

The flight engineer for the expedition was chosen immediately. Victor Savinykhhad 20 years of work behind him at the Central Design Bureau of Experimental Mechanical Engineering, the former OKB-1 of Sergei Korolev. The immediate leader of the Savinykh was one of the founders of Russian cosmonautics Boris Rauschenbach. The Victor Savinykh department was engaged in the development of spacecraft control systems, optical instruments for the Soyuz spacecraft and the Salyut station. There was no person in the cosmonaut corps who knew Salyut-7 better.

Victor Savinykh. Photo: RIA Novosti / Alexander Mokletsov

It was more difficult with the crew commander. He had to dock in manual mode, as experts later said, with a cobblestone.

The flight engineer conducted training with several potential candidates, although the name of the main challenger was known. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel Vladimir Dzhanibekovhe had four space flights and a reputation as a person who is capable of making the only right decision in extreme situations.

But Dzhanibekov returned from orbit only in July 1984 and had to undergo a medical commission for possible participation in a new flight. When the doctors gave Dzhanibekov the go-ahead for an expedition lasting no more than 100 days, it became clear that the crew was formed.

Vladimir Dzhanibekov. Photo: RIA Novosti / Alexander Mokletsov

How the decree on the fight against alcoholism prevented the seeing off of the astronauts

Superstitious people in space have nothing to do, but those who reject mysticism would certainly have shivered to learn that the most difficult expedition in the history of astronautics will have to fly on a ship numbered "13".

Soyuz T-13 has undergone a special re-equipment. The seat of the third cosmonaut and the automatic rendezvous system, which were useless in this case, were dismantled. A laser rangefinder was installed on the side window for manual docking. Due to the vacated space, additional reserves of fuel and water were taken, additional air purification regenerators were installed, which made it possible to increase the duration of an autonomous flight.

The launch of the Soyuz T-13 was scheduled for June 6, 1985. Before leaving for the Baikonur cosmodrome, the traditional farewell was to take place, and here an anecdotal situation occurred, which did not at all correspond to the seriousness of the upcoming mission.

Viktor Savinykh in his book “Notes from a Dead Station” described what happened as follows: “That morning, both crews (main and backup - Ed.) Came with their families to the dining room, there were bottles of champagne on the table, but there were no people seeing off. We didn't understand what was going on. Then they remembered that on June 1, a decree was issued on the fight against alcoholism. It was May 25. The military fulfilled this decree ahead of schedule. We sat down to breakfast, no one came in … then A. Leonov came, who said that all the authorities were waiting at the exit from the dispensary and we were going to be late for the airfield”.

The crew of the Soyuz T-13 spacecraft: Vladimir Dzhanibekov (left) and Viktor Savinykh (right) before launch. Photo: RIA Novosti / Alexander Mokletsov

Docking with missile defense

On June 6, 1985 at 10:39 Moscow time, Soyuz T-13 took off from Baikonur. The launch was reported in the Soviet press, but there was not a word that it was a unique mission. Only a few weeks later, journalists will begin to gradually tell the Soviet people that this flight, to put it mildly, is unusual.

On June 8, a docking with Salyut-7 was scheduled. For the first time in history, the guidance of a spacecraft to an object was provided by means of the Soviet anti-missile defense (ABM). It is clear that in the mid-eighties this fact was not intended for the press either.

Dzhanibekov and Savinykh successfully docked Soyuz T-13 with the station. “We could look at each other. We didn’t rejoice, because there was no longer a place for this feeling in our souls. Tension, fatigue, fear of doing something wrong, when nothing can be fixed - everything is confused. We sat in silence in our chairs, and salty sweat trickled down our hot faces,”the flight engineer recalled the first minutes after docking.

“I had experience in manual control. Docking would not work - everyone would shake their heads sadly and disperse. Along the calculated trajectory, in two or three days "Salute" would have fallen into the Indian or Pacific Ocean. And Viktor and I would have gone down to Earth, "- calmly recounted the incident, the imperturbable Vladimir Dzhanibekov.

Kolotun, brothers

But that was only the beginning. When the Soyuz T-13 approached the station, the cosmonauts noticed that the orientation system of the solar batteries did not work, and this entailed the shutdown of the Salyut-7 power supply system.

“Slowly, feeling the empty cold darkness, two men in gas masks swam into the space station … So, probably, some fantastic thriller could begin. This episode would undoubtedly look very impressive on film. In fact, it was impossible to see us: there was an eerie silence, impenetrable darkness and cosmic cold all around. This is what we found the Salyut-7 station, which, moreover, was losing altitude and did not respond to callsigns from the Earth. Two earthlings in a dead station, somewhere in the middle of endless space … "- this is how Viktor Savinykh wrote in the preface to the book" Notes from a Dead Station ".

On the day when Dzhanibekov and Savinykh entered Salyut-7, the commander threw a reply, which was promptly removed from all reports: "Kolotun, brothers!"

The station was not depressurized, and its atmosphere was not poisoned by carbon monoxide, which was feared in the MCC. But Salyut-7 was completely frozen. The temperature inside the station was no higher than 4 degrees Celsius.

Crew of the Soyuz T-13 spacecraft. Vladimir Dzhanibekov (right) and Viktor Savinykh. Photo: RIA Novosti / Alexander Mokletsov

Hats in space, or Where did Lev Andropov come from

The first night of the Pamirs - this was the call sign of the Soyuz T-13 crew - was spent not at the station, but in their own ship. And in the MCC, engineers puzzled over what measures could be taken to resuscitate Salyut-7 immediately. It was obvious that the crew would not be able to work for a long time in such conditions.

And again, next to the drama, there is an anecdote. Before the flight, the wife of Viktor Savinykh knitted downy hats for her husband and his crewmate, not knowing how useful they would be. Photos of astronauts in these hats will fly around the world and go down in history. And many years later, the creators of the American blockbuster Armageddon, inspired by these photographs, will come up with the image of a crumbling Russian station and the ever-drunk Russian cosmonaut Lev Andropov in a hat with earflaps.

In June 1985, there was no time for jokes. In overalls, hats and mittens, the cosmonauts took turns working on board the Salyut-7, insuring each other and trying to launch the “dead” systems. When it got particularly cold, we warmed ourselves with self-heating cans of canned food.

Spit froze in three seconds

Records of negotiations with the Earth also recorded the following fact: in the first days of work on "Salyut-7" Dzhanibekov was asked … to spit to check if the saliva would freeze. The crew commander spat and reported: the saliva froze within three seconds.

On the fourth day of the flight, with the help of the Soyuz engines, it was possible to turn the solar panels towards the Sun. For a long time and painstakingly dealt with chemical batteries, without which it was impossible to start charging solar. On June 11, it was possible to charge five battery packs and connect part of the station's systems. This was a key moment: if the batteries had not come to life, Salyut-7 would have had to be abandoned.

On June 12, Dzhanibekov and Savinykh made the first TV report from the Salyut-7. Since for the Soviet public the flight remained "planned", and not emergency rescue, the cosmonauts were asked to take off their hats for the duration of the broadcast. After the end of the communication session, the crew warmed up again.

Ice is melting between us …

Through the assembly, through the assembly, the cosmonauts brought the station back to life. And in gratitude for this "Salyut-7" almost killed them.

According to Viktor Savinykh, the most terrible moment happened when the ice on board began to melt. In zero gravity, the entire station was covered with a thin film of water. At any moment, a short circuit could occur, and after that a fire.

On Earth, they did not think about such a problem, and they did not provide the crew with means for cleaning water (that is, with banal rags). I had to use everything that absorbed moisture well, to tear even the overalls into shreds.

“The volume of work was great, of course. There are about a thousand electronic blocks and three and a half tons of cables. Due to the fact that the fans did not work for a long time, carbon dioxide accumulated. I often had to interrupt and wave something to disperse the air. But they did it. And when it got hard, they joked and swore amicably, Dzhanibekov admitted.

"Salyut" reanimated

On June 23, 1985, thanks to the work carried out, the Progress-24 cargo ship was able to dock to Salyut-7. The truck delivered additional supplies of water and fuel, equipment to replace the failed one and for the upcoming spacewalk.

The crew not only continued repair work, but also began to conduct scientific experiments. On August 2, Dzhanibekov and Savinykh carried out a spacewalk for 5 hours, during which additional solar panels and equipment were installed for conducting experiments.

After that, it became finally clear that Salyut-7 had been saved. On September 18, 1985, the Soyuz T-14 ship docked with Salyut-7 with a crew of Vladimir Vasyutin, Georgy Grechko and Alexander Volkov. It was assumed that Dzhanibekov, who had worked in orbit for 100 days permitted by doctors, would return to Earth with Grechko, and Savinykh would continue the long expedition together with Vasyutin and Volkov.

Members of the main crew of the Soyuz T-14 spacecraft (from left to right): flight engineer Georgy Grechko, research cosmonaut Alexander Volkov, spacecraft commander Vladimir Vasyutin. Photo: RIA Novosti / Alexander Mokletsov

Three times Hero - an astronaut? Not allowed

Dzhanibekov and Grechko actually returned to Earth on September 26. But the expedition of the Savins, Vasyutin and Volkov ended much earlier than planned. Why is a separate story, which has no direct relation to the salvation of Salyut-7. Those interested can easily find out why the efforts of Dzhanibekov and Savinykh largely went down the drain, and the Soviet Union never launched the first fully female crew into space.

For the unique operation to rescue the space station, Viktor Savinykh received the second star of the Hero of the Soviet Union. But Vladimir Dzhanibekov did not become a Hero three times: according to the established tradition, astronauts were not given more than two Hero stars, and even taking into account the uniqueness of the flight, no exception was made. The expedition commander was awarded the Order of Lenin and awarded him the rank of Major General.

Space Maul, or What Wasn't Really

As for the story about the planned American capture of Salyut-7 by the Challenger spacecraft, Dzhanibekov and Savinykh are skeptical about it. Yes, there is evidence that such an idea really was at NASA, but it was extremely difficult to solve this problem. “Catching” a twenty-ton “Salute”, dismantling solar panels and devices from it, fixing it and lowering it to Earth - such a mission looks unrealistic even in the eyes of those who have done the impossible while saving the dead station.

And the last thing: about the attitude of real heroes to those whom viewers see in a picture dedicated to this story. People who are interested in astronautics at least at an amateur level will immediately understand that some things were invented solely for the fun of an uninformed audience.

“I was categorically against the episode where an astronaut repairs a solar sensor with a sledgehammer. He expressed his opinion, but the episode in the film still remained. I do not want to criticize anyone or anything. I will only say: I was not invited to the shooting”, - Viktor Savinykh said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

Well, Russians are no strangers to a free interpretation of real feats from Russian filmmakers. But do not forget about how it really was.

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