Home - Search - Browse - Alphabetic Index: 0- 1- 2- 3- 4- 5- 6- 7- 8- 9
A- B- C- D- E- F- G- H- I- J- K- L- M- N- O- P- Q- R- S- T- U- V- W- X- Y- Z

---

Soyuz 15

---

Almaz right exterior Aft view of the Almaz, showing the propellant tanks and the '11F668' article number on its side. While this number was used for Almaz-T radar satellites, this station, stored at MAI, has the internal systems of the Phase 1 Almaz. It may have been the s/n 100 ground simulator converted to an Almaz-T mock-up. Credit: © Mark Wade

AKA: Duna (Danube). Launched: 1974-08-26. Returned: 1974-08-28. Number crew: 2 . Duration: 2.01 days.

The two day flight could only be characterized as '… research in maneuvering and docking with the OPS in various modes, and development of methods for evacuation and landing from space complex in new conditions….' The crew was recovered on August 28, 1974 20:10 GMT.

As Chelomei had complained, Soyuz had no reserves or backup systems for repeated manual docking attempts and had to be recovered after a two-day flight. The state commission found that the Igla docking system of the Soyuz needed serious modification. This could not be completed before Salyut 3 decayed. Therefore the planned Soyuz 16 spacecraft became excess to the program (it was later flown as Soyuz 20 to a civilian Salyut station, even though over its two year rated storage life).

Officially: Conduct of joint experiments with the Salyut-3 orbital scientific station.

• Soyuz 15 - . Call Sign: Duna (Danube ). Crew: Demin, Sarafanov. Backup Crew: Volynov, Zholobov. Support Crew: Rozhdestvensky, Zudov. Payload: Soyuz 7K-T(A9) s/n 63. Mass: 6,760 kg (14,900 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: MOM. Program: Almaz. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Flight: Soyuz 15. Spacecraft Bus: Soyuz. Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T/A9. Duration: 2.01 days. Decay Date: 1974-08-28 . USAF Sat Cat: 7421 . COSPAR: 1974-067A. Apogee: 236 km (146 mi). Perigee: 173 km (107 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 88.50 min.

  Soyuz 15 was to conduct the second phase of manned operations aboard the Salyut 3 military space station, but the Igla rendezvous system failed and no docking was made. The two day flight could only be characterised as '... research in manoeuvring and docking with the OPS in various modes, and development of methods for evacuation and landing from space complex in new conditions....'

  As Chelomei had complained, Soyuz had no reserves or backup systems for repeated manual docking attempts and had to be recovered after a two-day flight. The state commission found that the Igla docking system of the Soyuz needed serious modification. This could not be completed before Salyut 3 decayed. Therefore the planned Soyuz 16 spacecraft became excess to the program (it was later flown as Soyuz 20 to a civilian Salyut station, even though over its two year rated storage life).

  Officially: Conduct of joint experiments with the Salyut-3 orbital scientific station.

• Landing of Soyuz 15 - . Return Crew: Demin, Sarafanov. Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Demin, Sarafanov. Program: Almaz. Flight: Soyuz 15. Soyuz 15 landed at 20:10 GMT. .

• Cosmonaut reunion as Soyuz 15 crew arrives in Moscow. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Demin, Glushko, Keldysh, Mishin, Smirnov, Ustinov. Program: Salyut. Flight: Soyuz 15.

  Kamanin attends a reunion of cosmonauts on the occasion of the arrival of the Soyuz 15 crew at Chkalovsky Airfield. Demin has flown at the age of 48, the oldest astronaut ever, until Slayton makes his flight. Kamanin talks to Glushko and learns that the N1 has finally been cancelled. The misbegotten project went for eight years only because of the unconditional support of Mishin by Keldysh, Smirnov, and Ustinov. The earliest Soviet lunar landing cannot occur earlier than the Tenth Five Year Plan (e.g. 1980). Kamanin learns that Soyuz 15 was supposed to be a thirty-day flight, but the Igla automatic docking system failed yet again.