Soyuz T-14

Soyuz T-14
COSPAR ID 1985-081A
Mission duration 64 days, 21 hours, 52 minutes, 8 seconds
Orbits completed 1,021
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type Soyuz-T
Manufacturer NPO Energia
Launch mass 6,850 kilograms (15,100 lb)
Crew
Crew size 3
Members Vladimir Vasyutin
Alexander Volkov
Launching Georgi Grechko
Landing Viktor Savinykh
Callsign Чегет (Cheget - "Mount Cheget")
Start of mission
Launch date September 17, 1985, 12:38:52 (1985-09-17UTC12:38:52Z) UTC
Rocket Soyuz-U2
Launch site Baikonur 1/5
End of mission
Landing date November 21, 1985, 10:31:00 (1985-11-21UTC10:32Z) UTC
Landing site 180 kilometres (110 mi) SE of Dzhezkazgan
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Low Earth
Perigee 196 kilometres (122 mi)
Apogee 223 kilometres (139 mi)
Inclination 51.6 degrees
Period 88.7 minutes
Docking with Salyut 7

Soyuz programme
(Manned missions)
 Soyuz T-13 Soyuz T-15

Soyuz T-14 (Russian: Союз Т-14, Union T-14) was the ninth expedition to Salyut 7.

Crew

Position Launching crew Landing crew
Commander Vladimir Vasyutin
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer Georgi Grechko
Third spaceflight
Viktor Savinykh
Second spaceflight
Research Cosmonaut Alexander Volkov
First spaceflight

Backup crew

Position Crew
Commander Aleksandr Viktorenko
Flight Engineer Gennady Strekalov
Research Cosmonaut Yevgeni Saley

Mission parameters

Mission highlights

Soyuz T-14 demonstrated the wisdom of maintaining a Soyuz at Salyut 7 as an emergency medical evacuation vehicle: the mission commander Vasyutin fell ill which forced an early termination of the planned 6 month mission.

The main goals of the mission was to receive Cosmos 1686, a modified TKS, and conduct spacewalks with application to future space stations. The first goal was achieved on October 2. Cosmos 1686 contained 4,500 kg (9,900 lb) of freight, including large items like a girder to be assembled outside Salyut 7, and the Kristallizator materials processing apparatus. However, the crew of Soyuz T-14 were unable to achieve their second goal. By late October Vasyutin was no longer helping with experiments because he was ill.

On November 13 the cosmonauts began scrambling their communications with the TsUP. Return to Earth occurred soon after. Sources at NASA have reported that psychologists with the Russian Aviation and Space Agency cited Soyuz T-14 as ending prematurely due to "mood and performance issues" with the crew.[1] Vasyutin's illness is said to have been caused by a prostate infection, which had manifested itself as inflammation and a fever.[2]

References

  1. Burrough, Bryan (1998). Dragonfly: NASA and the Crisis Aboard Mir. HarperCollins. p. 185. ISBN 0-88730-783-3.
  2. Harland, David Michael; Catchpole, John (March 2002). Creating the International Space Station. Springer. p. 416. ISBN 1-85233-202-6.
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