Image: NASA (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
Salyut 6 EO-1
Mission Profile
| Launch date | 1977-12-10 |
|---|---|
| Launch site | Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 1/5 (Gagarin's Start) |
| Launch vehicle | Soyuz-U |
| Spacecraft | Soyuz 26 (launch) / Soyuz 27 (return) |
| Target | Low Earth Orbit |
| Type | Crewed |
| End date | 1978-03-16 |
| Duration | 96 days 10 hours |
| Partners | Czechoslovakia (Interkosmos) |
Overview
The first resident crew of the breakthrough Salyut 6 station, Yuri Romanenko and Georgi Grechko rode Soyuz 26 to orbit on 10 December 1977 and stayed 96 days, shattering the world endurance record. Ten days in, Grechko stepped outside to inspect the forward docking port in the new Orlan suit, the first Soviet spacewalk since 1969, while Romanenko, tethered in the hatch, briefly drifted free in a heart-stopping moment. Salyut 6's two docking ports rewrote the rulebook: in January 1978 the station hosted three craft at once for the first time, and in March the crew welcomed Czechoslovak cosmonaut Vladimir Remek, the first person in space from neither superpower. Romanenko and Grechko swapped capsules with their visitors and rode the fresher Soyuz 27 home, landing 16 March 1978.
Crew
Yuri Romanenko
Commander
First spaceflight; set the 96-day world endurance record
Georgi Grechko
Flight Engineer
Performed the first Soviet EVA in eight years
Key Milestones
1977-12-10
Soyuz 26 launches Romanenko and Grechko; first successful docking with Salyut 6 the next day
1977-12-20
Grechko conducts the first Soviet EVA since 1969, debuting the Orlan suit and inspecting the forward port
1978-01-11
Soyuz 27 arrives, achieving the first-ever three-spacecraft docked configuration in orbit
1978-03-02
Soyuz 28 delivers Vladimír Remek, the first non-Soviet, non-American in space
1978-03-16
Crew returns aboard Soyuz 27 after 96 days, a new world endurance record
Key Achievements
First resident crew of Salyut 6, the first second-generation Soviet station
First Soviet spacewalk since 1969, debuting the Orlan suit
First three-spacecraft docked configuration in orbit (January 1978)
Set a 96-day world spaceflight endurance record
