Image: Montage by Erick Soares3 (Klimuk: Presidential Press and Information Office), via Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0
Soyuz 30
Mission Profile
| Launch date | 1978-06-27 |
|---|---|
| Launch site | Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 1/5 |
| Launch vehicle | Soyuz-U |
| Spacecraft | Soyuz 7K-T (Soyuz 30) |
| Target | Low Earth Orbit |
| Type | Crewed |
| End date | 1978-07-05 |
| Duration | 7 days 22 hours 2 minutes |
| Partners | Soviet Union, Poland |
Overview
Soyuz 30 sent Mirosław Hermaszewski aloft as the first Polish citizen in space, the second guest flight of the Intercosmos programme. A Polish Air Force pilot who as a child survived the wartime massacres in Volhynia, the 36-year-old launched from Baikonur on 27 June 1978 with experienced Soviet commander Pyotr Klimuk. After docking with Salyut 6 the next day, the pair joined resident cosmonauts Vladimir Kovalyonok and Aleksandr Ivanchenkov for a week of joint research. Hermaszewski ran the Polish-designed Sirena semiconductor-crystal experiment, plus medical, Earth-resources and cartographic studies focused on Poland. The crew completed 125 orbits before landing on 5 July. Hermaszewski returned a national hero, his flight broadcast as a milestone of Polish science and a centrepiece of the era's space diplomacy.
Crew
Pyotr Klimuk
Commander
Soviet cosmonaut, his third spaceflight
Mirosław Hermaszewski
Research Cosmonaut (Intercosmos)
Poland — first and only Polish citizen in space until 2025
Key Milestones
1978-06-27
Launch from Baikonur at 15:27 UTC with Klimuk and Hermaszewski
1978-06-28
Docked with Salyut 6, joining the Kovalyonok/Ivanchenkov resident crew
1978-07-01
Ran the Polish Sirena crystal-growth and Earth-observation experiments
1978-07-05
Landed in Kazakhstan after 125 orbits and 7 days 22 hours
Key Achievements
First Polish citizen in space (Mirosław Hermaszewski)
Second crewed flight of the Intercosmos guest-cosmonaut programme
Conducted the Polish Sirena semiconductor crystal-growth experiment aboard Salyut 6
Completed 125 orbits during a near-eight-day mission
