Nov 27 1980
From The Space Library
The Soviet Union launched a redesigned spacecraft, Soyuz 73, carrying three cosmonauts in what the New York Times called a possible bid to break the 185-day endurance record set in October. Launch at 5:18 p.m. Moscow time was from the cosmodrome at Baykonur in Soviet central Asia; Tass reported that all systems were working well. The pilot of the flight was Lt. Col. Leonid Kizim, 39, a first-time flyer in space; flight engineer Oleg Makarov, 47, had flown on Soyuz 12 in September 1973 and Soyuz 27 in January 1978, as well as the "anomaly" of April 1973. Research engineer Gennady Strekalov, 40, also a rookie, had worked for 20 years in spacecraft design. This was the first three-person flight launched by the Soviet Union in nine years, since the crew of Soyuz 11 died during reentry in June 1971 when their capsule sprang a leak and lost pressure. The cosmonauts had not worn their space suits because of crowded conditions on the capsule.
Vladimir Shatalov, head of cosmonaut training, said that Soyuz T3 had "all the latest accomplishments of science and technology" including a fast onboard computer to free the crew "to the maximum from .... routine operations." The system was said to perform all calculations needed to dock with another craft such as Salyut 6. However, Radio Moscow did not say how long the flight would last, and Moscow media did not say whether Soyuz T3 would link with Salyut 6, which had been in orbit three years-only that the crew would test a new spacecraft.
Soyuz T3 was first of that type to carry a three--person crew, 39th in the Soyuz series, and sixth manned craft to be launched in 1980. Two tests of the new design had been successful: an unmanned Soyuz T had docked with space station Salyut 6 in December 1979, and Soyuz T2 carrying Yuri V. Malyshev and Vladimir V. Aksyonov had joined the Soyuz 36 crew (record-holders Valery Ryumin and Leonid Popov) there in June of this year. Salyut 6, designed to last only 18 months, had supported four expeditions over its three years in orbit. When Ryumin and Popov left it six weeks ago, after a thorough overhaul of its equipment, they said that it was fit for further use. (NY Times, Nov 27180, A-3; W Post, Nov 28180, A-28)
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