Jul 6 1976
From The Space Library
6 July-24 Aug.: A 2-man spacecraft, Soyuz 21, was launched from the Baykonur cosmodrome at 3:09 pm Moscow time (8:09 am EST) to carry out "joint experiments" with the USSR's Salyut 5 station in orbit, launched 22 June. Col. Boris Volynov, 41, who flew on Soyuz 5 during the first Soviet linkup in 1969, was commander, accompanied by flight engineer Lt. Col. Vitaly Zholobov, 39, 35th Russian to fly in space. Soyuz 21 orbital elements were: apogee, 253 km; perigee, 193 km; inclination, 51.6°; period, 88.7 min. The docking with Salyut 5 occurred 7 July and the 2 spacecraft would remain linked for 48 days, the crew returning safely 24 Aug. On board Salyut 5, the crew performed experiments on the development and behavior of fish, melting of metal and growing of crystals in weightlessness, and environmental studies. In April 1975 a Soyuz crew had failed to link with the Salyut 4 station, reportedly because of a rocket malfunction, but a second crew was successful in May and spent 63 days aboard. Although Soviet authorities offered few details on mission plans, the Salyut 5 had 2 docking ports, making it possible for 2 Soyuz craft to be docked at once. U.S. sources speculated that the mission might try to break the record of 84 days in space set by the third crew of Skylab in 1974.
Tass reported 10 July that Volynov and Zholobov were using an exercise device that allowed them to "run" in the weightlessness of outer space; a report from the cosmonauts recorded on that date described a mass-meter installed on Salyut 5 to measure the crew's weight in space through a vibration mechanism. On 28 July a report from the flight-control center said the cosmonauts were checking whether their training on the running track and other activities producing "microshocks" would affect the formation of crystals aboard the station. (FBIS, Tass in English, 6-30 July 76; W Post, 7 July, A-22; W Star, 7 July 76, A-2; NYT, 8 July 76, 23; Spacewarn, sm-273, 20 July 76, 2; Spaceflight, Jan 77, 36-37)
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