Soyuz TM-7 was a crewed Soyuz spaceflight to Mir.[1] It launched on 26 November 1988, at 15:49:34, and was the start of the fourth long duration expedition to Mir, Mir EO-4. The crew would join the third crew member of EO-4, cosmonaut/physician Valeri Polyakov, who was on Mir for the second half of EO-3. Also launched by Soyuz TM-7 was French astronaut Jean-Loup Chrétien, who would take part in the 24-day French mission known as Mir Aragatz. The spacecraft Soyuz TM-7 remained docked to Mir for the duration of EO-4. At the end of EO-4 in April 1989, due to delays in the launch schedule, Mir was left uncrewed, and all three EO-4 crew members were transported back to Earth.
![]() | |
COSPAR ID | 1988-104A ![]() |
---|---|
SATCAT no. | 19660![]() |
Mission duration | 151 days, 11 hours, 8 minutes, 24 seconds |
Orbits completed | ~2,450 |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft type | Soyuz-TM |
Manufacturer | NPO Energia |
Launch mass | 7,000 kilograms (15,000 lb) |
Crew | |
Crew size | 3 |
Members | Alexander Volkov Sergei Krikalev |
Launching | Jean-Loup Chrétien |
Landing | Valeri Polyakov |
Callsign | Донба́сс (Donbass) |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 26 November 1988, 15:49:34 (1988-11-26UTC15:49:34Z) UTC |
Rocket | Soyuz-U2 |
Launch site | Baikonur 1/5 |
End of mission | |
Landing date | 27 April 1989, 02:57:58 (1989-04-27UTC02:57:59Z) UTC |
Landing site | 140 kilometres (87 mi) NE of Dzhezkazgan |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric |
Regime | Low Earth |
Perigee altitude | 194 kilometres (121 mi) |
Apogee altitude | 235 kilometres (146 mi) |
Inclination | 51.6 degrees |
Period | 88.8 minutes |
Docking with Mir | |
Docking date | 28 November 1988, 17:15:00 UTC |
Undocking date | 26 April 1989, 23:28:01 UTC |
![]() Soyuz programme (Crewed missions) |
Position | Launching crew | Landing crew |
---|---|---|
Commander | ![]() Mir EO-4 Second spaceflight | |
Flight Engineer | ![]() Mir EO-4 First spaceflight | |
Research Cosmonaut | ![]() Mir Aragatz Second spaceflight |
![]() Mir EO-3 / Mir EO-4 First spaceflight |
The original launch date of November 21 was moved back to permit French president François Mitterrand to view the launch, which was also attended by David Gilmour and Nick Mason of Pink Floyd, who made an audio recording of the event for potential use in a future project.[2] The spacecraft arrived at the Mir station carrying a three-man crew, including French cosmonaut Chrétien on his second flight into space. Titov, Manarov, and Chrétien returned to Earth in Soyuz TM-6. Alexander Volkov, Sergei Krikalev, and Valeri Polyakov remained aboard Mir. On 1989 April 28, they left Mir in mothballs and returned to Earth in Soyuz-TM 7. The Soyuz-TM land landing system is effective at reducing velocity in the vertical direction. However, according to cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, winds at the landing site often impart considerable horizontal velocity. As a result, about 80 percent of all Soyuz descent modules come to rest on their sides.[citation needed] During the rough landing, Krikalev suffered a minor injury to his knee.
Preparations for the first EVA involving a non-Soviet/non-U.S. space traveler forced the cosmonauts to cut short a TV meeting with diplomats from 47 countries on December 8. On December 9, Chrétien and Volkov depressurized the multiport docking adapter and clambered outside Mir. Chrétien was first out. He installed handrails, then attached the 15.5 kg (34 lb) Échantillons experiment rack to the handrails by springs and hooks. He also attached electrical wires leading from the rack to Mir's power supply. Échantillons carried five technological experiments with applications to the Hermes shuttle program. Volkov and Chrétien then assembled the 240 kg (530 lb) experimental deployable structure (known as ERA). They attached a mount to handrails on the frustum linking the multiport docking unit to the small-diameter portion of the work compartment. After resolving problems with cables linking ERA to a control panel inside Mir, they attached the folded ERA structure to a support arm on the platform. The structure was designed to unfold to form a flat six-sided structure 1 metre deep by 3.8 metres across. From inside Mir, Krikalev commanded the structure to unfold, but to no avail. Volkov then kicked ERA, causing it to unfold properly. According to Krikalev, taking the ERA outside helped relieve the crowding problems. The EVA lasted 5 hours and 57 minutes.
The crew took with them a cassette of Pink Floyd's newly released live album Delicate Sound of Thunder (minus the cassette box, for weight reasons) and played it in orbit; this was claimed by David Gilmour to have been the first rock music recording in space.[2] The tape was left on Mir when the mission crew returned to Earth.[2]
Soyuz programme | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Main topics |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Past missions (by spacecraft type) |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Current missions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Future missions |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Uncrewed missions are designated as Kosmos instead of Soyuz; exceptions are noted "(uncrewed)". The † sign designates failed missions. Italics designates cancelled missions. |
Human spaceflights to Mir | ||
---|---|---|
1986–1990 | ![]() | |
1991–1995 | ||
1996–2000 |
← 1987 · Orbital launches in 1988 · 1989 → | |
---|---|
Kosmos 1908 | Kosmos 1909 · Kosmos 1910 · Kosmos 1911 · Kosmos 1912 · Kosmos 1913 · Kosmos 1914 | Gorizont No.25L | Progress 34 | Kosmos 1915 | Meteor-2 No.20 | USA-29 | Kosmos 1916 | USA-30 | Kosmos 1919 · Kosmos 1917 · Kosmos 1918 | Kosmos 1920 | Kosmos 1921 | Sakura 3a | Kosmos 1922 | Zhongxing-1 | Kosmos 1923 | Kosmos 1924 · Kosmos 1925 · Kosmos 1926 · Kosmos 1927 · Kosmos 1928 · Kosmos 1929 · Kosmos 1930 · Kosmos 1931 | Molniya-1 No.65 | Spacenet 3R · Telecom 1C | Kosmos 1932 | Kosmos 1933 | IRS-1A | Molniya-1 No.64 | Kosmos 1934 | Progress 35 | Kosmos 1935 | San Marco 5 | Kosmos 1936 | Gorizont No.26L | Kosmos 1937 | Kosmos 1938 | Foton No.4L | Kosmos 1939 | Transit-O 23 · Transit-O 32 | Kosmos 1940 | Kosmos 1941 | Ekran No.31L | Kosmos 1942 | Progress 36 | Kosmos 1943 | Intelsat VA F-13 | Kosmos 1944 | Kosmos 1945 | Kosmos 1946 · Kosmos 1947 · Kosmos 1948 | Molniya-3 No.49 | Kosmos 1949 | Kosmos 1950 | Kosmos 1951 | Soyuz TM-5 | Kosmos 1952 | Kosmos 1953 | Meteosat 3 · PAS-1 · OSCAR-13 | Nova 2 | Kosmos 1954 | Kosmos 1955 | Kosmos 1956 | Okean-O1 No.5 | Kosmos 1957 | Fobos 1 | Unnamed | Fobos 2 | SROSS-B | Kosmos 1958 | Progress 37 | Kosmos 1959 | INSAT-1C · ECS-5 | Meteor-3 No.3 | Resurs-F1 No.30 | Kosmos 1960 | Kosmos 1961 | Fanhui Shi Weixing I-02 | Kosmos 1962 | Molniya-1 No.66 | Kosmos 1963 | Gorizont No.28L | Kosmos 1964 | Kosmos 1965 | Transit-O 25 · Transit-O 31 | Soyuz TM-6 | Kosmos 1966 | USA-31 | USA-32 | Kosmos 1967 | Fengyun I-01 | GStar-3 · SBS-5 | Kosmos 1968 | Progress 38 | Kosmos 1969 | Kosmos 1970 · Kosmos 1971 · Kosmos 1972 | Sakura 3b | Ofek-1 | Kosmos 1973 | NOAA-11 | Molniya-3 No.51 | STS-26 (TDRS-3) | Kosmos 1974 | Kosmos 1975 | Kosmos 1976 | Gran' No.34L | Kosmos 1977 | Kosmos 1978 | TDF 1 | USA-33 | Unnamed | Buran 1K1 (37KB No.3770) | Kosmos 1979 | Kosmos 1980 | Kosmos 1981 | Soyuz TM-7 | Kosmos 1982 | STS-27 (USA-34) | Kosmos 1983 | Ekran-M No.12L | Skynet 4B · Astra 1A | Kosmos 1984 | Zhongxing-2 | Molniya-3 No.52 | Kosmos 1985 | Progress 39 | Molniya-1 No.63 | Kosmos 1986 | |
Payloads are separated by bullets ( · ), launches by pipes ( | ). Crewed flights are indicated in underline. Uncatalogued launch failures are listed in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are denoted in (brackets). |