Soyuz T-9 launched 1983

Soyuz T-9 crew: Aleksandr Aleksandrov, Vladimir Lyakhov

Soyuz T-9, launched June 27, 1983, was the fourth expedition to the Salyut 7 space station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Vladimir Lyakhov and Aleksandr Aleksandrov.  The previous mission Soyuz T-8 and the next one, Soyuz T-10-1 both failed.

The crew returned to Earth in November.

Cosmonaut Aleksandr Serebrov born 1944

Aleksandr Serebrov, born February 15, 1944 in Moscow, Russia, is a veteran of four space flights.  He is one of the few people to fly for both the Soviet and Russian space programs. 

His first mission was aboard Soyuz T-7, launched in August 1982 as Flight Engineer to Salyut 7.  He returned two and half weeks later aboard Soyuz T-5. 

His second mission was aboard Soyuz T-8 as Flight Engineer to Salyut 7 in April 1983.  Unfortunately, the spacecraft failed to dock with the space station and returned to Earth two days later.

His third trip was aboard Soyuz TM-8 in September 1989 to Mir as part of expedition Mir EO-5 with fellow cosmonaut Aleksandr Viktorenko.  They remained in space for 166 days before returning to Earth in February 1990.

Serebrov's fourth and final flight was aboard Soyuz TM-17, launched in July 1993 to Mir with fellow cosmonaut Vasili Tsibliyev.  They remained in space for almost 197 days and returned to Earth in January 1994.

He passed away in November 2013.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Vladimir Titov!

Vladimir Georgiyevich Titov, born January 1, 1947 in the former Soviet Union, is a veteran of four space flights.

His first trip into space was aboard Soyuz T-8 as commander to Salyut 7 in April 1983 but the spacecraft failed to dock and they had to return to Earth two days later.

His second mission was aboard Soyuz T-10-1, which was also a planned trip to Salyut 7 in September 1983, but the spacecraft exploded on the launch pad, and he and fellow cosmonaut Gennady Strekalov had to use the escape system.

His next attempt was successful.  He blasted off in Soyuz TM-4 as commander in December 1987 to the Mir space station, as part of Mir EO-3 expedition.  He remained aboard for a year and returned to Earth on Soyuz TM-6 in December 1988.

His third mission was aboard Discovery (STS-63) as mission specialist in February 1995 to Mir.

His fourth and final mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-86) to Mir September-October 1997 as mission specialist.  He performed an EVA with fellow astronaut Scott Parazynski for about 5 hours.

Cosmonaut Gennadi Strekalov born 1940

Gennady Strekalov, born October 26, 1940, went into space 5 times.  He lived on Salyut 6, Salyut 7 and Mir.

His first mission into space was aboard Soyuz T-3 as a research cosmonaut November-December 1980 to Salyut 6.  He and the rest of the crew of Soyuz T-3 stayed aboard for almost 13 days.

His second trip was as flight engineer on Soyuz T-8 in April 1983 to Salyut 7.  The craft failed to dock with the space station and due to damage to Soyuz T-8, the decision was made to return to Earth after only 2 days.

In September 1983, Strekalov attempted to go into  space on Soyuz T-10-1 with fellow cosmonaut Vladimir Titov.  The launch vehicle was destroyed by fire before the countdown had completed.  The escape system fired two seconds before the rocket exploded, saving the crew, battered and bruised but alive.

His third trip, which was successful, was as Flight Engineer on Soyuz T-11 in April 1984 to Salyut 7.  He returned to Earth on Soyuz T-10 about a week later.

Gennady's fourth trip was on Soyuz TM-10 as flight engineer to Mir in August 1990.  He and Gennadi Manakov spent over 4 months on Mir and returned to Earth December.

His fifth and final trip was on Soyuz TM-21 as flight engineer, launched in March 1995 to Mir.  He was part of the crew of the expedition Mir EO-18. He returned to Earth on Atlantis (STS-71) in July.

He passed away Christmas Day 2004 from cancer.

Soyuz T-8 launched 1983

Soyuz T-8, launched April 20, 1983, tried to dock with Salyut 7, but failed, returning to Earth two days later.  Its crew consisted of Commander Vladimir Titov, Flight Engineer Gennady Strekalov and Research Cosmonaut Aleksandr Serebrov.

After they returned to Earth, it was determined that a rendezvous radar antenna boom had been torn off during launch when the payload shroud separated.  While in space, the crew believed the antenna boom to be attached but after several attempts to dock with Salyut 7, it was decided to cut the mission short to ensure the crew had enough fuel to return to Earth.