Dec 10 1980
From The Space Library
Press reports said that the three cosmonauts launched November 27 in Soyuz T3 on a repair mission to the three-year-old space station Salyut 6 had returned safely from their 13-day flight December 10 at 12:26 p.m. Moscow time. Landing was in Kazakhstan in Soviet central Asia. Leonid Kizim, Oleg Makarov, and Gennady Strekalov were in perfect condition, Tass said. This was the sixth manned mission by the Soviet Union this year and the first three-person crew orbited since 1971, when three cosmonauts died during reentry after a valve blew on Soyuz 11.
A new guidance system on Soyuz T3 took over after liftoff and guided it to smooth docking with Salyut 6. The spacecraft, third of an improved version of the Soyuz (mainstay of the Soviet space program since 1967), carried solar batteries, an. on-board computer, improved maneuvering rockets, and improvements in cabin comfort for the cosmonauts. The crew had performed repairs and-maintenance on Salyut 6 telemetry, refueling systems, and temperature controls. (W Post; Dec 10/80, A-2; Dec 11/80, A-13; NY Times, Dec 1/80, A-23)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
