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Soyuz 6

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Soyuz 6
Mission typeTest flight
OperatorSoviet space program
COSPAR ID1969-085A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.04122Edit this on Wikidata
Mission duration4 days, 22 hours, 42 minutes, 47 seconds
Orbits completed80
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft typeSoyuz 7K-OK
ManufacturerExperimental Design Bureau OKB-1
Launch mass6,577 kilograms (14,500 lb)
Crew
Crew size2
MembersGeorgi Shonin
Valeri Kubasov
CallsignАнтей ([Antey] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) - "Antaeus")
Start of mission
Launch date11 October 1969, 11:10:00 (1969-10-11UTC11:10Z) UTC
RocketSoyuz
Launch siteBaikonur 31/6[1]
End of mission
Landing date16 October 1969, 09:52:47 (1969-10-16UTC09:52:48Z) UTC
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth
Perigee altitude212 kilometers (132 mi)
Apogee altitude218 kilometers (135 mi)
Inclination51.6 degrees
Period88.8 minutes
File:Soyuz-6-patch.png
Soyuz programme
(Manned missions)
← Soyuz 5
Soyuz 7 →

Soyuz 6 (Template:Lang-ru, Union 6) was part of a joint mission with Soyuz 7 and Soyuz 8 that saw three Soyuz spacecraft in orbit together at the same time, carrying a total of seven cosmonauts. The crew of Georgi Shonin and Valeri Kubasov were meant to take high-quality movie photography of the Soyuz 7 and Soyuz 8 docking, but the rendezvous systems on all three spacecraft failed.

It is still not known exactly what the actual problem was, but it is often quoted as being a helium pressurization integrity test.[2] The version of Soyuz 7K-OK spacecraft used for the missions carried a torus-shaped docking electronics equipment housing surrounding the motor assembly on the back of the service module, which is thought to have been pressurised with helium to provide a benign environment for the electronics. It was then jettisoned after docking to lower the mass of the spacecraft for reentry. Due to unstable temperature, disparity between the frequencies of the transmitters and receivers, which were stabilized by special quartz resonators, occurred. The piezocrystals were supposed to be in thermostats at a strictly constant temperature.[3]

The crew was made up of Shonin and Kubasov, who carried out experiments in space welding. They tested three methods: using an electron beam, a low-pressure plasma arc and a consumable electrode. While welding, Kubasov almost burned through the hull of the vehicle's Living Compartment, which in the absence of spacesuits could have resulted in a catastrophic situation.[3] The apparatus was designed at the E. O. Paton Electric Welding Institute, Kiev, Ukraine. The weld quality was said to be in no way inferior to that of Earth-based welds.[2]

After eighty orbits of the Earth, they landed on 16 October 1969, 180 km (110 mi) northwest of Karaganda, Kazakhstan.

The radio call sign of the spacecraft was [Antey] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), referring to the Greek hero Antaeus, but at the time of the flight, however, it was also the name of the largest practicable aircraft, the Soviet Antonov 22, made in Ukraine. But unlike the call signs of Soyuz 7 and Soyuz 8, it was not the name of a squadron in Soviet military training, of uncertain role, for the one that begins with the letter 'a' is [Aktif] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), meaning "active".

Crew

Position Cosmonaut
Commander Georgi Shonin
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer Valeri Kubasov
First spaceflight

Backup crew

Position Cosmonaut
Commander Vladimir Shatalov
Flight Engineer Aleksei Yeliseyev

Reserve crew

Position Cosmonaut
Commander Andriyan Nikolayev
Flight Engineer Georgi Grechko

References

  1. ^ "Baikonur LC31". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2009-03-04.
  2. ^ a b M. Sharpe, Space: The Ultimate Frontier
  3. ^ a b B. Chertok, Rockets and People, Vol. IV