Soyuz TM-7

Soyuz TM-7
COSPAR ID	1988-104A
SATCAT no.	19660
Mission duration	151 days, 11 hours, 8 minutes, 24 seconds
Orbits completed	~2,450
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Soyuz 7K-TMA No. 57
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 UTC
Rocket	Soyuz-U2
Launch site	Baikonur 1/5
End of mission
Landing date	27 April 1989, 02:57:58 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) ← Soyuz TM-6 Soyuz TM-8 →

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.

Crew


Position	Launching crew	Landing crew
Commander	Alexander Volkov Mir EO-4 Second spaceflight
Flight Engineer	Sergei Krikalev Mir EO-4 First spaceflight
Research Cosmonaut	Jean-Loup Chrétien, CNES Mir Aragatz Second spaceflight	Valeri Polyakov Mir EO-3 / Mir EO-4 First spaceflight

Backup crew

Mission parameters

Mass: 7,000 kg 15,400 lb
Perigee: 194 km (120 mi)
Apogee: 235 km (146 mi)
Inclination: 51.6°
Period: 88.8 minutes

Mission highlights

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. 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]

References

^ The mission report is available here: http://www.spacefacts.de/mission/english/soyuz-TM7.htm
^ ^a ^b ^c Miles, Barry; Andy Mabbett (1994). Pink Floyd the visual documentary. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0711941092.

[1] The mission report is available here: http://www.spacefacts.de/mission/english/soyuz-TM7.htm

[Mabbett-3-2] Miles, Barry; Andy Mabbett (1994). Pink Floyd the visual documentary. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0711941092.

[1]

[2]

v t e Human spaceflights to Mir
1986–1990	Soyuz T-15 Soyuz TM-2 Soyuz TM-3 Soyuz TM-4 Soyuz TM-5 Soyuz TM-6 Soyuz TM-7 Soyuz TM-8 Soyuz TM-9 Soyuz TM-10 Soyuz TM-11
1991–1995	Soyuz TM-12 Soyuz TM-13 Soyuz TM-14 Soyuz TM-15 Soyuz TM-16 Soyuz TM-17 Soyuz TM-18 Soyuz TM-19 Soyuz TM-20 STS-63 Soyuz TM-21 STS-71 Soyuz TM-22 STS-74
1996–2000	Soyuz TM-23 STS-76 Soyuz TM-24 STS-79 STS-81 Soyuz TM-25 STS-84 Soyuz TM-26 STS-86 STS-89 Soyuz TM-27 STS-91 Soyuz TM-28 Soyuz TM-29 Soyuz TM-30

v t e ← 1987 Orbital launches in 1988 1989 →
January	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
February	USA-29 Kosmos 1916 USA-30 Kosmos 1919, Kosmos 1917, Kosmos 1918 Kosmos 1920 Kosmos 1921 Sakura 3a Kosmos 1922
March	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
April	Kosmos 1937 Kosmos 1938 Foton No.4L Kosmos 1939 Transit-O 23, Transit-O 32 Kosmos 1940 Kosmos 1941
May	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
June	Soyuz TM-5 Kosmos 1952 Kosmos 1953 Meteosat 3, PAS-1, OSCAR-13 Nova 2 Kosmos 1954 Kosmos 1955 Kosmos 1956
July	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
August	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
September	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)
October	Kosmos 1974 Kosmos 1975 Kosmos 1976 Gran' No.34L Kosmos 1977 Kosmos 1978 TDF 1
November	USA-33 Unnamed Buran 1K1 (37KB No.3770) Kosmos 1979 Kosmos 1980 Kosmos 1981 Soyuz TM-7 Kosmos 1982
December	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
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).