Launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome; landing
with Soyuz 34-capsule 295 km northwest of Dzheskasgan.
Following a one
day solo flight the Soyuz docked with Salyut 6 on 26.02.1979. The cosmonauts
became the third resident crew. During their residence unmanned cargo
spacecrafts Progress 5 -7 and unmanned spacecraft Soyuz 34 docked to the
station. The Soyuz 34 was needed, because of the failing docking-attempt of the
Soyuz 33
spacecraft. Soyuz spacecrafts could only be used for 90 days at this time, so a
new one (unmanned) spacecraft was needed.
When they arrived on the
station, they had to make preparing work, because the station had to be
repaired (sprung propellant leak of the propulsion system). The tank repairing
took some time, after the arrival of the Progress 5 spacecraft, but was
successful. The testing new developed Gamma-Ray-Telescope was done. Experiments
in materials science were also performed. A Progress spacecraft brought a 10
m-reflector to the space station, which unfolded independent at the stations
tall. A test of the "Cosmic Radio-Telescope" (
KRT-10)
was done too. Both cosmonauts conducted an
EVA on
15.08.1979 (1h 23m) to jettison the
KRT-10
antenna from rear docking port and to inspect the exterior of Salyut 6. They
also retrieved samples of materials from the stations hull.
All in all
the crew set a new spaceflight record.
