Salyut 7
Expedition 4

Launch from Baikonur; landing 220 km northeast of Dzheskasgan.

Following a two day solo flight the Soyuz docked with Salyut 7 on 08.06.1985. The cosmonauts became the fourth resident crew of the station.

When arriving on the space station, 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 he 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 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. The station's water tanks thawed by the end of June. 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.