Feb 25 1979
From The Space Library
The Soviet Union launched Soyuz 32 from the Baykonur site at 2:54 p.m. local time, carrying a two-man crew to occupy the orbiting Salyut 6 space station for the first time since November 1978, when the Soyuz 29 astronauts returned after a record 139 days in space. Soyuz 32 was manned by Lt. Col. Vladimir Lyakhov, 37, acting as commander on his first flight, and civilian flight engineer Valery Ryumin, 39, who was aboard Soyuz 25 when it failed to dock with Salyut 6 in October 1977 and had to return to Earth 2 days later.
Gen. Vladimir Shatalov, head of the USSR's space training program, said Salyut 6 had been "an effective platform for work in space," having been occupied for 8 of the 16 months since its launch in September 1977. It had seen five successful manned dockings (three by international crews including cosmonauts from Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and Poland as part of the Intercosmos program), as well as dockings by a number of unmanned supply vessels delivering food and fuel. (NY Times, Feb 26/79, A-14; W Post, Feb 26/79)
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