Salyut 7 facts for kids

This page is about a space station. For the film, see Salyut 7 (film).

Quick facts for kids
Salyut 7
Station statistics
Salyut 7 photographed by Soyuz T-13 crew before docking, 25 September 1985
The insignia of the Salyut Program
Launch	19 April 1982 19:45:00 UTC
Launch pad	LC-200/40, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Soviet Union
Reentry	7 February 1991
Mass	19,824 kg
Length	16 m (minimum)
Width	4.15 m (max)
Pressurised volume	90 m³ (minimum)
Perigee	219 km (118.25 nmi)
Apogee	278 km (150.1 nmi)
Orbital inclination	51.6 degrees
Orbital period	89.21minutes
Days in orbit	3215 days
Days occupied	816 days
No. of orbits	51,917
Distance travelled	2,106,297,129 km (1,137,309,460 nmi)
Statistics as of de-orbit and reentry
Configuration
Salyut 7 with docked Kosmos 1686 TKS spacecraft

Salyut 7 (which means Salute 7 in Russian) was a space station that orbited Earth from April 1982 to February 1991. It was like a home and laboratory for astronauts in space.

The station was part of the Soviet Salyut programme. It launched on April 19, 1982, using a Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Salyut 7 helped scientists learn how to connect different parts in space. This was important for building bigger space stations later on. It was the last station in the Salyut series before the Mir space station was built.

What Was Salyut 7 Like?
Inside Salyut 7
Who Visited Salyut 7?
- Long-Stay Crews
Problems and Repairs in Space
- Fuel Leaks
- Loss of Power
The End of Salyut 7
Space Walks from Salyut 7
How Spacecraft Docked
Facts About Salyut 7
Images for kids
See also

What Was Salyut 7 Like?

Salyut 7 was very similar to its older sibling, Salyut 6. It was launched because there were delays in building the Mir space station. Even though it had some technical problems, astronauts were able to fix them. For example, they had to repair a fuel leak in 1983 during spacewalks.

Salyut 7 stayed in orbit for almost nine years, which was a record at the time! Ten different crews visited it, including astronauts from France and India. One amazing moment was when Svetlana Savitskaya became the second woman in space. She was also the first woman to perform a spacewalk, where she even did metal cutting and welding!

Besides doing many experiments, Salyut 7 also tested how to connect large modules to a space station. These modules were like big additions that helped engineers learn how to build the much larger Mir station.

Inside Salyut 7

Salyut 7 during assembly.

Salyut 7 had two docking ports, one at each end. These ports allowed other spacecraft, like Progress supply ships, to connect. It had three solar panels to get power from the sun. These panels could even have smaller panels attached to them for more power.

Inside, Salyut 7 was designed to be more comfortable for astronauts. It had electric stoves, a refrigerator, and constant hot water. The seats at the control console were redesigned to be more comfortable. There were also special windows that let in ultraviolet light to help kill germs. The areas for medical checks, biology experiments, and exercise were also improved.

Scientists also grew plants on Salyut 7 using special systems. In one experiment, a plant called Arabidopsis became the first plant to flower and produce seeds in space's zero gravity!

Salyut 7 was the most advanced and comfortable station in the Salyut series. It had about 20 windows with shades. The inside was painted with different colors like white, apple green, and beige. This was done by an architect named Galina Balashova. She wanted to make living in space feel more like home for the astronauts.

Who Visited Salyut 7?

Salyut 7 with docked spacecraft

Salyut-7 with Kosmos1686 and Soyuz T-15 docked, truss extended May 31 1986

Salyut 7 was visited by many different spacecraft and crews. Large modules like Kosmos 1443 and Kosmos 1686 also docked with the station. These modules were like extra rooms or labs.

Ten different Soyuz T crews worked on Salyut 7. Only two "guest cosmonauts" from other countries visited. One time, a launch of the Soyuz T-10-1 spacecraft had a problem on the launch pad. The crew was safely ejected and recovered.

Long-Stay Crews

Salyut 7 had six main crews who lived there for long periods.

The first crew, Anatoli Berezovoy and Valentin Lebedev, stayed for 211 days in 1982.
In 1983, Vladimir Lyakhov and Alexander Alexandrov spent 150 days on board.
The longest stay was by Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov, and Oleg Atkov, who lived on Salyut 7 for 237 days in 1984.
In 1985, Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh arrived to fix problems with the station.
Later in 1985, Vladimir Vasyutin, Alexander Volkov, and Georgi Grechko visited.
The last crew to visit Salyut 7 was Leonid Kizim and Vladimir Solovyov in 1986. They even flew from the Mir space station to Salyut 7 and back!

There were also four shorter visiting missions that brought supplies and helped the main crews.

Problems and Repairs in Space

Salyut 7 faced two big problems that needed amazing repairs in space.

Fuel Leaks

In September 1983, astronauts Vladimir Lyakhov and Alexander Alexandrov noticed a fuel leak. This was a serious problem! Ground control decided that the next crew would have to fix it.

Astronauts Leonid Kizim and Vladimir Solovyov took on this challenge. They performed four spacewalks to fix two leaks. A special tool was sent up later to fix a third leak. This was one of the most complex repairs ever done in space at that time.

Loss of Power

On February 11, 1985, Salyut 7 suddenly lost all power and went silent. The station was empty at the time. It started to tumble out of control. It was a huge challenge to fix it!

Astronauts Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh were sent on the Soyuz T-13 mission to save the station. When they arrived, Salyut 7 was dark and cold. They had to guide their spacecraft to dock with the tumbling station without any help from its systems.

Wearing warm clothes, they entered the freezing station. They found that an electrical sensor, which told the batteries when to charge, had failed. Once they replaced the batteries, the station slowly came back to life. Within a week, enough systems were working for supply ships to dock again. This rescue mission was so incredible that it inspired a 2017 Russian film called Salyut 7.

The End of Salyut 7

Debris from Salyut 7, which landed on Argentina in 1991.

The last time Salyut 7 had astronauts on board was in 1986. The crew of Soyuz T-15 moved some equipment from Salyut 7 to the new Mir space station.

After that, Salyut 7 was boosted to a higher orbit to keep it from falling back to Earth too soon. The plan was to retrieve it later with a Buran shuttle. However, unexpected high solar activity made Earth's atmosphere thicker, which pulled the station down faster than expected.

Salyut 7 finally fell back to Earth on February 7, 1991. It broke apart over the town of Capitán Bermúdez in Argentina. Luckily, it missed its planned landing spot over the ocean, but no one was hurt.

Space Walks from Salyut 7

Astronauts on Salyut 7 performed many spacewalks (EVAs) to do repairs, add equipment, and conduct experiments.

Mission	Spacewalker	Duration	What they did
Salyut 7 – PE-1 – EVA 1	Lebedev, Berezevoi	2 h, 33 min	Retrieved experiments
Salyut 7 – PE-2 – EVA 1	Lyakhov, Alexandrov	2 h, 50 min	Added a solar array
Salyut 7 – PE-2 – EVA 2	Lyakhov, Alexandrov	2 h, 55 min	Added another solar array
Salyut 7 – PE-3 – EVA 1	Kizim, Solovyov	4 h, 20 min	Repaired the fuel system
Salyut 7 – PE-3 – EVA 2	Kizim, Solovyov	4 h, 56 min	Continued fuel system repair
Salyut 7 – PE-3 – EVA 3	Kizim, Solovyov	2 h, 45 min	Continued fuel system repair
Salyut 7 – PE-3 – EVA 4	Kizim, Solovyov	2 h, 45 min	Continued fuel system repair
Salyut 7 – PE-3 – EVA 5	Kizim, Solovyov	3 h, 05 min	Added a solar array
Salyut 7 – VE-4 – EVA 1	Savitskaya, Dzhanibekov	3 h, 35 min	First spacewalk by a woman
Salyut 7 – PE-3 – EVA 6	Kizim, Solovyov	5 h, 00 min	Completed fuel system repair
Salyut 7 – PE-4 – EVA 1	Dzhanibekov, Savinykh	5 h, 00 min	Added more solar arrays
Salyut 7 – PE-6 – EVA 1	Kizim, Solovyov	3 h, 50 min	Tested a truss structure and collected samples
Salyut 7 – PE-6 – EVA 2	Kizim, Solovyov	5 h, 00 min	Continued testing the truss structure

How Spacecraft Docked

Sometimes, a Soyuz spacecraft would need to move from one docking port to another on Salyut 7. This was done to make space for incoming Progress supply ships, which could only refuel the station from a specific port.

The resident crew would get into their Soyuz, undock, and fly a short distance away from Salyut 7. Then, ground control would command the station to slowly turn around 180 degrees. Finally, the Soyuz would fly back and dock with the other port. This tricky maneuver was successfully done by the crews of Soyuz T-7, T-9, and T-11.