The Soviet space station Salyut 4, launched December 26, 1974, was the first unmanned portion of the experiment. It successfully achieved orbit after its "twin" DOS-3 failed in May 1973.
Salyut 4 hosted 2 crews, Soyuz 17 and Soyuz 18, during its mission. The crew of Soyuz 18a had to abort since they failed to achieve orbit. The first crew, Georgi Grechko and Aleksei Gubarev, stayed for about 29 1/2 days. The second crew, Pyotr Klimuk and Vitali Svastyanov, stayed for about 63 days.
Salyut 4 was "deorbited" February 2, 1977 and re-entered the Earth's atmosphere the following day. Do you remember the hype over it burning up in the atmosphere like Skylab in '79? No?
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