Soyuz T-9: Sustaining Salyut 7 Through Failures and Repairs

Soyuz T-9 was a Soyuz T crew transport manufactured and operated by the Soviet NPO Energia. Commander Vladimir Lyakhov and flight engineer Aleksandr Pavlovich Alexandrov launched from Baikonur at about 09:12 UTC on 27 June 1983. They docked with Salyut 7 the following day, becoming its second long-duration crew.

In April, damage to rendezvous equipment had prevented Soyuz T-8 from docking and delayed crewed work on the station. When T-9 arrived, the large transport spacecraft Kosmos 1443 was already docked. The crew entered a complex consisting of Salyut 7, the Soyuz and the transport. Reactivating life support, communications and observation instruments was the first step toward research.

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The cosmonauts transferred approximately 3.5 tonnes of supplies and equipment from Kosmos 1443, including the solar panels they would later install. Long-duration work required experiment equipment, food and life-support supplies to be stowed individually. The freed transport space could then carry material back to Earth.

In August the crew loaded approximately 350 kilograms of experimental products, records and unused equipment into Kosmos 1443’s return capsule. The transport separated from the station on 14 August and the capsule landed on the 23rd, while another part remained in orbit for a time. Some results consequently reached Earth before the cosmonauts completed their stay. Soyuz T-9 then moved to the other docking port to make room for the Progress 17 cargo spacecraft, sustaining the station’s supply chain.

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On 27 July, a small object struck a Salyut 7 window, leaving a crater about four millimeters across without penetrating the outer pane. NASA’s technical history records that its origin was undetermined: it could have been a meteoroid or orbital debris. Alongside handling experiment equipment delivered by the transport, the crew observed and maintained the station itself throughout its stay.

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While Progress 17 was replenishing propellant, Salyut 7’s main oxidizer line ruptured. Maintaining orbital altitude subsequently required greater reliance on the propulsion systems of visiting cargo spacecraft. Cargo deliveries thus also contributed to keeping the station operational.

On 26 September, a rocket intended to carry Titov and Strekalov to take over the station caught fire on the launch pad. Its escape system saved them, but they did not enter orbit. Lyakhov and Alexandrov therefore stayed longer. The failures changed crew rotation without bringing all observations, supply management and maintenance preparations to a halt.

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Solar panels lose efficiency with use, and Salyut 7 had been designed with additional panels in mind. The 1982 crew had tested external assembly techniques, and Kosmos 1443 delivered the new panels. However, the crews intended to install them had twice failed to reach the station, leaving the work to T-9’s cosmonauts.

On 1 and 3 November, the two men made spacewalks lasting nearly three hours each. Working with foot restraints near the central solar wing, they installed two panels in succession. NASA’s technical history records an increase of about 50 percent in available station power. Progress 18 replenished air lost during the spacewalks and used its engines to raise the complex’s orbit on 4 November. Electrical power, air and orbital maintenance depended on the combined efforts of the crew and several spacecraft.

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Lyakhov and Alexandrov returned aboard Soyuz T-9 on 23 November, landing near Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan after local nightfall. This article uses UTC for launch and return dates. They spent approximately 149 days in space; their time aboard the station began with docking on 28 June.

The mission returned observations and medical data from a prolonged stay. It left the station with additional panels and propulsion problems still requiring attention. Salyut 7 continued in uncrewed operation after T-9’s return, awaiting its next crew.

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