Soyuz T-7, launched August 19, 1982, was the third mission to the Salyut 7 space station. Its crew consisted of Commander Leonid Popov, Aleksandr Serebrov and Svetlana Savitskaya. They swapped places with the Salyut 7 crew and remained aboard.
Soyuz T-7 returned to Earth in December 1982 with Anatoli Berezovoy and Valentin Lebedev.
Leonid Popov, born August 31, 1945 in the Ukraine in the former Soviet Union, is a veteran of three Soyuz flights. Selected as a cosmonaut in 1970, he flew his first mission on Soyuz 35 as commander in June 1980 to Salyut 6. He returned to Earth on Soyuz 37 in October 1980.
His second flight was aboard Soyuz 40 as commander in May 1981 to Salyut 6. It was a cooperation between the Soviet Union and Romania, with cosmonaut Dumitru Prunariu. It was also the last flight of that type Soyuz spacecraft.
His third and final flight was as commander aboard Soyuz T-7 launched in August 1982 to Salyut 7. Svetlana Savitskaya, the second woman in space, was also on board. He returned to Earth on Soyuz T-5 later that month.
Svetlana Savitskaya, born August 8, 1948 in Moscow, is the second woman in space, the first woman to go into space twice, and the first woman to perform an EVA.
Her first trip into space was aboard Soyuz T-7, in August 1982 to Salyut 7. She stayed about 12 days on board and returned to Earth in Soyuz T-5.
Her second trip into space was aboard Soyuz T-12 to Salyut 7. She performed an EVA for about 3 hours and 35 minutes, conducting welding exercises outside Salyut 7. When NASA announced that Kathryn Sullivan would become the first woman to make an EVA, the Soviets assigned Savitskaya three weeks later to another short-term mission on Salyut 7. She conducted her spacewalk on July 25, 1984, just 3 months before Sullivan made her historic EVA. She returned to Earth July 29, after 12 more days in space.
Soyuz T-12 crew (L-R): Commander Vladimir Dzhanibekov, Svetlana Saviskaya, Igor Volk
Soyuz T-12, launched July 17, 1984, was the seventh manned mission to Salyut 7. Its crew was Commander Vladimir Dzhanibekov, Svetlana Saviskaya and Igor Volk.
Igor Volk was a test pilot and the Soviets planned for him to be commander of the first Buran flight, but the program never materialized. It did not go unnoticed by some in the West that a test pilot was occupying a seat usually reserved for researchers or foreign cosmonauts. At this time, the Buran project was still secret.
The previous November, NASA announced that Kathryn Sullivan would be the first woman to perform a spacewalk, so naturally, the Soviets decided to get there first. They re-assigned crews and added Savitskaya to the rotation and became the first woman to perform a spacewalk.
Soyuz T-5, launched May 13, 1982, was the first mission to the new Salyut 7 space station. Its crew consisted of Commander Anatoli Berezovoy and Flight Engineer Valentin Lebedev. While docked with Salyut 7, Soyuz T-6 (with Jean-Loup Chretien, first French astronaut) and Soyuz T-7 (with Svetlana Savitskaya, the first female astronaut in 20 years).
Soyuz T-5 returned to Earth August 27. The return crew consisted of Commander Leonid Popov, Flight Engineer Aleksandr Serebrov and Research Cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya.
Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to perform an Extra-Vehicular Activity, July 25, 1984. In a rush to upstage the U.S.'s plans to put women into space, the Soviets launched Savitskaya in 1982, seven months before Sally Ride, on Soyuz T-7. She took her second trip into space on Soyuz T-12 to Salyut 7.
She spent 3 hours and 35 minutes in an EVA repairing Salyut 7 with fellow cosmonaut Vladimir Dzhanibekov.
