Cosmonaut Vitaly Sevastyanov born 1935

Vitaly Sevastyanov, born July 8, 1935 in the former Soviet Union, was a veteran of two Soyuz missions.

His first flight into space was aboard Soyuz 9 as flight engineer in June 1970.  His almost 18 day mission with fellow cosmonaut Andriyan Nikolayev paved the way for future Salyut missions.

His second and final trip into space was aboard Soyuz 18 as flight engineer to Salyut 4 with fellow cosmonaut Pyotr Kilmuk.  They were the second and final crew aboard the space station.

He passed away in April 2010 in Moscow, Russia.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Pyotr Klimuk!

Pyotr Ilyich Klimuk, born July 10, 1942, is a veteran of three Soyuz space flights and the first Belarusian travel in space.

His first flight was aboard Soyuz 13 as commander in December 1973.  It was the Soviet Union's first mission dedicated to science mission.

His second flight was as Commander on Soyuz 18 to the space station Salyut 4 May-June 1975.  The environmental conditions on Salyut 4 began to deteriorate and Klimuk was only able to take a 10-minute walk two days after he landed.  It took him a full week before he completely recovered.

Klimuk's third and final fight was commander of Soyuz 30 June-July 1978 to Salyut 6.

Soyuz 18 launched 1975

Soyuz 18 crew

Mission patch

Soyuz 18, launched May 24, 1975, was the second and last mission to Salyut 4.  Its crew, Commander Pyotr Klimuk and Flight Engineer Vitali Sevastyanov, set a record of 63 days in space.  It was also the second time seven people were in space (7) simultaneously.

Soyuz 18 mission took place during the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, hence all the people in space.  The crew were controlled from an Crimean Control Center, not used since Soyuz 12.

By the end of the mission, the environment aboard the station was deteriorating, windows fogging over and green mold growing on the walls.

Salyut 4 launched 1974

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?