Launch from Baikonur; landing 220 km northeast
of Dzheskasgan.
Docking on Salyut 7;
fourth resident
crew of the station.
When arriving on the spacestation, the station
had been vacant since eight month and it had been crippled by a solar array
problem. Soyuz T-13 was the first Soyuz to dock manually with an inert Salyut.
For the purpose it was slightly modified to include control levers in the
descent module for proximity operations.
This mission became one of the
most impressive feats of in-space repairs in history. As the crew approached
the inert station, they saw that its solar arrays were pointing randomly as it
rolled slowly about its long axis. They used a handheld laser rangefinder to
judge their distance, and conducted a fly-around inspection to be certain the
exterior was intact.
Dzhanibekov noted that the thermal blankets on the transfer
compartment had turned a dull gray from prolonged exposure to sunlight. Upon
achieving hard dock the crew confirmed through the electrical connectors in the
docking collars that the Salyut 7 electrical system was dead. They carefully
sampled the air in the station before opening the hatch. The station air was
very cold, but breathable. Frost covered the walls and apparatus. The
cosmonauts wore winter garb, including fur-lined hats, as they entered the
station. The first order of business was to restore electric power. Of the
eight batteries, all were dead, and two were destroyed.
Dzhanibekov determined that a sensor had failed in the solar
array pointing system, preventing the batteries from recharging. A telemetry
radio problem prevented the
TsUP
from detecting the problem. Salyut 7 had quickly run down its batteries,
shutting down all its systems and accounting for the break in radio contact.
The cosmonauts set about recharging the batteries. They used Soyuz T-13 to turn
the station to put its solar arrays in sunlight. On June 10, 1985 they turned
on the air heaters. The cosmonauts relied on the Soyuz T-13 air regeneration
system until they could get the Salyut 7 system back in order. Three days later
the the attitude control system was successfully reactivated. That was
neccessary, because now a Progress bearing replacement parts could dock with
Salyut 7. Wall heaters were turned on only after all the frost had evaporated,
in order to prevent water from entering equipment. Normal atmospheric humidity
was achieved only at the end of July 1985. The station's water tanks thawed by
the end of June 1985. Freezing destroyed the water heater, so the cosmonauts
used a powerful television light to heat fluids.
After that scientific
work was performed, including medical and astronomical research and work with
the ASTRA-apparature. Approaching- and docking systems were
tested.
Difficult
EVA by
Dzhanibekov and
Savinykh on 02.08.1985 (5h 00m) to replace two detectors and
to expand one solar panel with two segments.
Dzhanibekov returned with Soyuz T-13-spacecraft (and
cosmonaut
Grechko),
Savinykh continued work on the space station.
