Soyuz TM-7

Serial number 57

Soyuz TM -7 is the mission name for the flight of a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft to the Soviet space station Mir. It was the seventh visit of a Soyuz spacecraft with the Mir space station and the 83rd flight of Soviet Sojusprogramm.

Crew

Start crew

  • Alexander Alexandrovich Volkov ( second space flight), Commander
  • Sergei Konstantinovich Krikaljow ( first space flight), flight engineer
  • Jean- Loup Chrétien ( second space flight ), science Cosmonaut ( Centre national d' études spatiales CNES / France )

Backup crew

  • Alexander Stepanovich Viktorenko, Commander
  • Alexander Alexandrovich Serebrov, Flight Engineer
  • Michel Tognini, Science Cosmonaut ( Centre national d' études spatiales CNES / France )

Return crew

  • Alexander Alexandrovich Volkov ( second space flight), Commander
  • Sergei Konstantinovich Krikaljow ( first space flight), flight engineer
  • Valeri Vladimirovich Polyakov ( first space flight ), science astronaut

Mission overview

The launch took place on 26 November 1988 by the Soviet Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Kazakh SSR. Actually, the start should be made on 21 November, but was postponed so that the French Prime Minister François Mitterrand was able to witness this. While staying on the Mir Chrétien and Volkov took spacewalks, which lasted five hours and 57 minutes. They were installing a rack for five samples studied, which were intended, among other things for the Hermes program of ESA. In addition, the ERA experiment was installed.

Volkov and Krikaljow flew as replacement of Titov and Manarov to Mir, while Chretien worked only three weeks aboard the station. During this time experiments were performed on 16 complexes. So topographical and spectrographic images of the earth's surface were made, operated X-ray astronomical research, carried out biological and medical studies. These included blood tests, observations on the interaction of eye and muscle functions, the study of adaptation to weightlessness and the cardiac activity. In addition, the cosmic radiation was measured within the station.

The fourth crew subsequently completed an extensive research program with more than 5000 individual experiments to the fields of X-ray and ultraviolet astronomy and spectroscopy, solar and atmospheric science, earth science, medicine, engineering, biology and materials science. So single strong X-ray sources were observed with the X-ray Telescope, including Scorpio X-1, Centaur X-3, the supernova 1987A, pulsar in the constellation of sails and in the Small Magellanic Cloud. With the UV spectrometer and the telescope Glasar in the module Kwant single sky areas in the constellations of the Southern Cross, Auriga, Cassiopeia and Puppis were screened. It also stellar spectra were taken. This was also carried out on the multiple supernova 1987 -A in order to determine a time variation of its spectrum can. Other study objectives were the detection of environmental impacts, the density of the ozone layer and the effects of high energy radiation on the Earth's atmosphere. In the upper atmosphere, the formation of charged particles has been investigated. Again, were made many photographic images and spectra of parts of the earth's surface. Medical research related to the adaptation to microgravity, blood circulation, pressure and composition, especially to the sense organs and the Vestibulatorsystem, the calcium loss from the body and the cardiovascular system by the doctor Polyakov. Furthermore, the plant growth in microgravity was investigated produced highly pure, biologically active preparations, produces optical glass melts and new semiconductor materials and metal alloys tested. In addition, the electronics system was extended on board the station, new equipment installed for climate regulation and maintenance work carried out. Necessary materials and supplies were delivered to the transport spacecraft Progress 38 to 41. After the completion of the research, the station was moved in automatic operation mode.

The landing took place on 27 April 1989 after 2450 Earth orbits about 140 kilometers northeast of Dscheskasgan in present-day Kazakhstan. The flight lasted 151 days so that eleven hours eight minutes and 24 seconds.

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