Georgi Grechko, born May 25, 1931 in Leningrad in the Soviet Union, has been in space three times.
His first mission was aboard Soyuz 17 in 1975 to the space station Salyut 4. He stayed on Salyut 4 for 29 days, setting a record for that time.
His second mission was aboard Soyuz 26 to the space station Salyut 6 in December 1977. He participated in the first long duration expedition, EO-1. He returned to Earth aboard Soyuz 27 in March 1978.
His third and final flight was aboard Soyuz T-14 to Salyut 7 in September 1985. He returned to Earth aboard Soyuz T-13 later the same month.
Vladimir Dzhanibekov, born May 13, 1942 in the former Soviet Union, is a veteran of five space flights.
His first mission was as commander aboard Soyuz 27 to Salyut 6 in January 1978. He participated in expedition EP-1 and returned to Earth on Soyuz 26 about 6 days later.
His second mission was aboard Soyuz 39 as commander to Salyut 6 in March 1981, where he spent about 8 days before returning to Earth.
His third flight was aboard Soyuz T-6 as commander to Salyut 7 in June 1982 for another 8 days.
His fourth flight was as commander abord Soyuz T-12 to Salyut 7 in July 1984, where he stayed for about 12 days.
His fifth and final flight was aboard Soyuz T-13 as commander to Salyut 7 in June 1985. He remained on board for about 3 1/2 months before returning to Earth.
He has a minor planet named after him: 3170 Dzhanibekov discovered in 1979.
Salyut 7, Soviet space station, was launched April 19, 1982. It was the last of the Salyut program, which was replaced by Mir. It had six resident crews, the first of which arrived in December 1982.
In February 1985, contact with the space station was lost and began to drift. Soyuz T-13 with Valdimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh arrived in June 1985 to repair the malfunctions.
The crew of Soyuz T-15 was the final crew to visit Salyut 7 and transferred equipment to the new Mir space station.
Salyut 7 underwent an uncontrolled reentry in February 1991, breaking up over the southern Pacific Ocean.
I watched the Russian movie Salyut 7 over the weekend and
was very impressed with the whole film, which is based on the rescue of the
space station after contact had been lost with it. In June 1985, the crew of Soyuz T-13,
Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh, traveled to Salyut 7 and brought it
back to life. The mission has been
called the “Apollo 13” of the Soviet space program.
At first, I got confused because the two main characters,
the cosmonauts, were not given the full names of the real life cosmonauts. Vladimir Vdovichenkov played Vladimir
Fyodorov (Dzhanibekov) and cutie(!) Pavel Derenvyanko played Viktor Alyokhin
(Savinykh).
As I expected, the events of the real mission were
embellished and over-dramatized for the film version. For instance, Salyut 7 was crippled by a
faulty electrical sensor, which determined when batteries needed charging. Not meteorites, as in the film.
Also, a fire did not break out on the Soyuz module, causing Vladimir
to don a space suit and blow the hatch putting out the fire.
Still, the movie had a lot of suspenseful moments and had
some awesome special effects. The version
I saw has English subtitles, so it was easy to watch. Even if you are not a space history buff like
me, you will enjoy it for the drama and suspense.
Soyuz T-13 crew: Vladimir Dzhanibekov, Viktor Savinykh
Soyuz T-13, launched June 6, 1985, was the rescue mission for Salyut 7 space station. Its crew consisted of Commander Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Flight Engineer Viktor Savinykh. Salyut 7 had been rendered inoperable due to a solar array problem and ground crews had lost contact with it.
Dzhanibekov maneuvered his ship to match the station's rotation and managed to dock with it. They first recharged the batteries (two of eight were destroyed) by re-aligning the solar arrays to their proper position. They wore winter clothes until they could turn on the air heaters, June 10. They used Soyuz T-13 for the air regeneration system until Salyut 7's system was fixed.
Normal atmospheric humidity was achieved at the end of July, nearly two months after docking.
Soyuz T-13 landed with Dzhanibekov and Georgi Grechko September 26, 1985. Savinykh returned on Soyuz T-14 in November.
Viktor Savinykh, born March 7, 1940, is part of the team that rescued Salyut 7, which had stopped responding to ground signals. His first mission into space was aboard Soyuz T-4 launched March 12, 1981, the sixth and last long-duration stay aboard Salyut 6 as EO-6, with fellow cosmonaut Vladimir Kovalyonok. They stayed on board about a month and a half before returning to Earth.
His next trip was aboard Soyuz T-13, June 6, 1985, the eighth expedition to Salyut 7, the first time a spacecraft docked with a 'dead' space station. Commander Vladimir Dzhanibekov piloted his ship and matched the station's rotation and managed to connect with the forward port. Savinykh and Dzhanibekov, wearing winter garb and fur-lined hats entered the dark station. The air was breathable but extremely cold. On June 10, they turned the heaters on after restoring electric power and three days later, managed to reactivate the attitude control system, which allowed the supply spacecraft to dock with Salyut 7.
Water tanks were thawed by the end of June and normal atmospheric humidity was achieved after almost two months after docking. These events have been dramatized in a 2017 Russian film, Salyut 7.
Savinykh's next trip was to the space station Mir, aboard Soyuz TM-5 in June 1988. He was part of expedition EP-2, which lasted about a week and he returned to Earth on Soyuz TM-4.
