Jan 11 1975
From The Space Library
The 38 000-kg second stage from the Saturn V booster that placed the Skylab 1 orbital workshop in orbit 14 May 1973 reentered the atmosphere over the Atlantic Ocean just before 3 am EST. NASA reported that radar tracked one large chunk that survived the fiery plunge through the atmosphere and fell into the ocean at 34° north latitude, 19° west longitude, about 1600 km west of Gibraltar. Smaller pieces might have scattered over an area several kilometers to the . northwest and southeast of that point and some charred debris might have fallen on the Sahara Desert, but NASA received no report that any fragments had caused damage or injury. (NASA PAO, interview, 30 June 1976; Reuter, W Post, 12 Jan 75, A14; AP, W Star-News, 12 Jan 75, Al; UPI, NYT, 12 Jan 75, 55)
11 January-9 February. The U.S.S.R. launched Soyuz 17, carrying cosmonauts Lt. Col. Aleksey A. Gubarev and Georgy M. Grechko, from Baykonur cosmodrome at 2:43 am local time (4;43 pm EST 10 Jan.) to rendezvous. and dock with the Salyut 4 space station launched 26 Dec. 1974. Soyuz 17 entered orbit with a 249-km apogee, 186-km perigee, 88.9-min period, and 51.6° inclination. Tass announced that the mission would carry joint experiments with Salyut 4 , including a comprehensive checkout of the spacecraft's onboard systems in various flight conditions.
After an orbital correction that raised the spacecraft's orbit to 354km apogee, 90.7-min period, and 51:6° inclination, Soyuz 17 docked with Salyut 4 on 12 Jan, Gubarev and Grechko entered the station, switched on the power and radio transmitters, and inspected the scientific equipment.
During their nearly 30 days aboard Salyut 4 , the cosmonauts studied solar phenomena, x-radiation from celestial bodies, and earth's radiation. They also studied the effects of weightlessness on the human body, made earth-resources observations, and studied the earth's upper atmosphere. They resprayed two telescope mirrors dulled by exposure to space; carried out biological "Oasis" experiments using insects, microorganisms, tissue cultures, and plants; and recycled water, condensed from the cabin's atmosphere, for drinking and food preparation.
The crew began preparations to return to earth on 9 Feb., reboarding Soyuz 17 and unlocking from the space station at 11:08 am Baykonur time (1:08 am EST). Soyuz 17 softlanded in the U.S.S.R. 110 km northeast of Tselinograd, Kazakhstan, "in complex meteorological conditions" after 29 da 13 hr 20 min in space.
On-the-spot and subsequent medical checks showed the cosmonauts to be in good health. The Soyuz 17 cosmonauts broke the previous 23-day 18-hr 22-min Soviet record for time in space, set by the Soyuz 11 crew (6-30 June 1971) before they were killed during reentry. (GSFC SSR, 28 Feb 75; Tass, FBIS- Sov,13 Jan-13 Feb 75; SF, April 75,144-5, June 75, 235; UPI, NYT, 16 Jan 75,14; SBD,14 Jan 75, 62; LC S&T News Alert 2645)
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