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Soyuz 33
(Salyut 6, VE-5)
(Fourth International Expedition)

Crew:
    Nikolai Rukavishnikov [3], Commander
    Georgi Ivanov [1], Research Cosmonaut (Bulgaria)

Backup Crew:
    Yuri Romanenko
     (for Rukavishnikov)
    Aleksandr Aleksandrov (Bulgaria)
     (for Ivanov)

Launch:
    Location: Baikonur, Site 1/5
    Date: 10 April 1979
    Time: 17:34:34 UTC

Landing:
    Date: 12 April 1979
    Time: 16:35:40 UTC

Duration: 1 days, 23 hours, 1 minutes, 6 seconds

Call Sign: Saturn

Intended for the Salyut 6 station. A failure of the craft's main rocket engine before it was able to dock caused the mission to be aborted. The reserve engine did work, but failure to shut down at the proper time caused ballistic reentry with gravity loads up to 10 g's. The emergency landing was 180 km down range from the normal landing area. This mission marked the first Bulgarian in space.

crew
Crew

 


Page last modified: 20 June 2022 16:59:08.