Soyuz T-9

Soyuz T-9

COSPAR ID	1983-062A
SATCAT no.	14152
Mission duration	149 days, 10 hours, 45 minutes,
Orbits completed	2,361
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	Soyuz-T
Manufacturer	NPO Energia
Launch mass	6,850 kilograms (15,100 lb)
Crew
Crew size	2
Members	Vladimir Lyakhov Aleksandr Aleksandrov
Callsign	Proton
Start of mission
Launch date	June 27, 1983, 09:12:00 (1983-06-27UTC09:12Z) UTC
Rocket	Soyuz-U
Launch site	Baikonur 1/5
End of mission
Landing date	November 23, 1983, 19:58:00 (1983-11-23UTC19:59Z) UTC
Landing site	160 kilometres (99 mi) E of Dzhezkazgan
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee altitude	201 kilometres (125 mi)
Apogee altitude	229 kilometres (142 mi)
Inclination	51.6 degrees
Period	88.6 minutes
Docking with Salyut 7
File:Soyuz T-9 mission patch.png Soyuz programme (Manned missions)

Soyuz T-9 (Russian: Союз Т-9, Union T-9) was the 4th expedition to Salyut 7 following the failed docking of Soyuz T-8. Returned lab experiments to earth. The next mission, Soyuz T-10a, had failed to launch due to a fire.

Crew

Position	Crew
Commander	Vladimir Lyakhov Second spaceflight
Flight Engineer	Aleksandr Aleksandrov First spaceflight

Backup crew

Position	Crew
Commander	Vladimir Titov
Flight Engineer	Gennady Strekalov

Mission parameters

• Mass: 6850 kg
• Perigee: 201 km
• Apogee: 229 km
• Inclination: 51.6°
• Period: 88.6 minutes

Mission highlights

4th expedition to Salyut 7. Its mission was heavily impacted by the Soyuz T-8 docking failure and the Soyuz T-10a Soyuz booster failures which bracketed it.

Almost immediately after docking at Salyut 7’s aft port, the crew entered Cosmos 1443 and commenced transferring the 3.5 tons of cargo lining its walls to Salyut 7.

Window impact: On July 27 a small object struck a Salyut 7 viewport. It blasted out a 4-mm crater, but did not penetrate the outer of the window’s two panes. The Soviets believed it was a member of the Delta Aquariid meteor shower, though it may have been a small piece of orbital debris.

The crew loaded Cosmos 1443’s VA capsule with 350 kg of experiment results and hardware no longer in use. It could have held 500 kg, had they had that much to put in. Cosmos 1443 then undocked, in spite of Western predictions that the FGB component would remain attached to Salyut 7 as a space station module. The VA capsule soft-landed on August 23, and the FGB component continued in orbit until it was deorbited over the Pacific Ocean on September 19.