Soyuz 28

Mission Profile

Overview

Soyuz 28 carried Czechoslovak pilot Vladimír Remek into history as the first person launched into space who was neither American nor Soviet, opening the Intercosmos guest-cosmonaut programme that gave the Eastern Bloc a path to orbit. Lifting off from Baikonur on 2 March 1978 alongside veteran commander Aleksei Gubarev, the 30-year-old fighter pilot docked with the Salyut 6 station a day later, joining long-duration residents Yuri Romanenko and Georgi Grechko. Over nearly eight days the crew ran the Morava materials-processing experiment, Czech-designed chlorella oxygen studies, and Earth-observation tasks tailored to Czechoslovak science. Remek's flight, four years before any West European or Asian guest reached orbit, became a powerful symbol of socialist solidarity — and a genuine scientific exchange that shaped Prague's space ambitions for decades.

Crew

Key Milestones

1. 1978-03-02

   Launch from Baikonur at 15:28 UTC with Gubarev and Remek

2. 1978-03-03

   Docked with Salyut 6, joining the Romanenko/Grechko resident crew

3. 1978-03-08

   Conducted the Morava materials-science and Czech biological experiments

4. 1978-03-10

   Undocked and landed safely in Kazakhstan after 7 days 22 hours

Key Achievements

• First person in space who was neither a US nor a Soviet citizen (Vladimír Remek)

• First Czechoslovak citizen in space

• Inaugural crewed flight of the Intercosmos guest-cosmonaut programme

• Delivered the Morava materials-processing and Czech biological experiments to Salyut 6

Related Missions

Sources

1. Soyuz 28 — Wikipedia
2. Soyuz 28 mission report — Spacefacts
3. Soyuz 28 — Encyclopedia Astronautica