Soyuz 34 launched 1979

Soyuz 34, launched June 6, 1979, was an unmanned spacecraft sent to supply the Salyut 6's resident crew after Soyuz 33 suffered engine failure.  Soyuz 34 returned to Earth on August 19, bringing Vladimir Lyakhov and Valery Ryumin home.

Discovery (STS-91) launched 1998

STS-91 crew

Front row (L-R): Dominic Gorie, Charles Precourt

Back row (L-R): Wendy Lawrence, Franklin Chang-Diaz, Janet Kavandi, Valery Ryumin, Andrew Thomas

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-91), launched June 2, 1998, was the final mission to the space station Mir.  Its crew consisted of Commander Charles Precourt, Pilot Dominic Gorie, Franklin Chang-Diaz, Wendy Lawrence, Janet Kavandi and Valery Ryumin (Roscosmos).

Andrew Thomas joined the crew of Discovery, after he had spent 130 days on Mir.  They returned to Earth June 12.

Soyuz 35 launched 1980

Soyuz 35 crew: Leonid Popov, Valery Ryumin

Soyuz 35, launched April 9, 1980, was the tenth manned mission to (the eighth to successfully dock with) Salyut 6.  Its crew consisted of Commander Leonid Popov and Valery Ryumin.

Soyuz 35 returned to Earth in June 1980 with Commander Valeri Kubasov and Bertalan Farkas, the first Hungarian cosmonaut.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Yelena Kondakova!

Yelena Kondakova, born March 30, 1957, is the third Russian woman in space.  Her first trip into space was aboard Soyuz TM-20 as flight engineer to the Mir space station in October 1994.  After five months, she returned to Earth in March 1995.

Her second trip into space was aboard Atlantis (STS-84) as mission specialist to Mir in May 1997.

She is married to fellow cosmonaut Valery Ryumin. 

Soyuz 25 launched 1977

Soyuz 25 crew (L-R): Vladimir Kovalyonok, Valery Ryumin

Soyuz 25, launched October 9, 1977, was the first flight to the new Salyut 6 space station, launched just ten days prior.  Its crew consisted of Commander Vladimir Kovalyonok and Valery Ryumin.  The mission was aborted when the cosmonauts failed to dock with Salyut 6.  Kovalyonok and Ryumin were both rookies and subsequently, the Soviet space program instituted a new rule such that every crew had to have at least one person who had flown in space previously.

They returned to Earth on October 11.

Soyuz 32 launched 1979

Soyuz 32 crew: Vladimir Lyakhov, Valery Ryumin

Mission patch

Soyuz 32, launched February 25, 1979, was the seventh successful mission to space station Salyut 6.  Its crew consisted of Commander Vladimir Lyakhov and Valery Ryumin.  They set a record at the time for longest duration in space, 175 days.

A visiting crew (Soyuz 33) failed to dock to Salyut 6, so the cosmonauts had no visitors during their stay.  They returned to Earth June 13.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Valery Ryumin!

Valery Ryumin, born August 16, 1939 in the former Soviet Union, is a veteran of three Soyuz missions and one Space Shuttle flight.

His first mission into space was aboard Soyuz 25 in October 1977 as Flight Engineer.  It was the first mission to new Salyut 6, but after five attempts failed at engaging docking latches, the trip was aborted.  This led to a new rule such that every crew had to have at least one non-rookie on board.

His second flight was aboard Soyuz 32 to Salyut 6, launched in February 1979.  Although he and Commander Vladimir Lyakhov docked successfully, the visiting crew did not. The Soviets decided to have Soyuz 32 returned to Earth with no one aboard, to serve as a replacement vehicle.  They returned to Earth on Soyuz 34 in August.

Just eight months later, Ryumin was back in space aboard Soyuz 35 to Salyut 6. He spent 185 days in space, setting a new record for the time.  He returned to Earth October 1980 on Soyuz 37.

His final mission into space was aboard Discovery (STS-91) in June 1998.  It was the final Space Shuttle mission to the Mir space Station.

He is married to fellow cosmonaut Yelena Kondakova. 

Soyuz 37 launched 1980

Soyuz 37 crew (L-R): Viktor Gorbatko, Pham Tuan

Soyuz 37 mission patch

Soyuz 37, launched July 23, 1980, was the 13th (11th successful) mission to dock with the Soviet space station Salyut 6.  Its crew consisted of Commander Viktor Gorbatko and Flight Engineer Pham Tuan, the first Vietnamese cosmonaut. 

They stayed on Salyut 6 approximately eight days later and returned to Earth in the Soyuz 36 spacecraft.

The long-duration crew of Leonid Popov and Valery Ryumin returned in Soyuz 37 in October.

Soyuz T-15 launched 1986

Soyuz T-15 crew: Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov

Soyuz T-15, launched March 13, 1986, was the first mission that visited and docked with two space stations during the same mission.  Commander Leonid Kizim and Flight Engineer Vladimir Solovyov arrived at Mir, the first craft to visit the new space station on March 15.  During their 55 day stay (Mir EO-1), they unloaded two Progress spacecraft (supplies and scientific equipment) since Mir was launched with little science equipment. 

On May 5, Kizim and Solovyov boarded Soyuz T-15 and undocked from Mir.  Salyut 7 was 4000 km ahead of Mir and in a lower orbit, so Mir was lowered 13 km to help expedite the journey.  Twenty-nine hours later, Soyuz T-15 docked with Salyut 7.

The previous crew EO-4 had been assigned to conduct EVAs but since Vladimir Vasyutin became ill and had to return early to Earth, they had not been able to perform the EVAs.  As EO-5, Kizim and Solovyov completed the EVAs

On June 25, they undocked from Salyut 7, the last expedition to the space station, and headed back to Mir, reaching it on June 26.

On July 3, Kizim passed Valeri Ryumin's record for time spent in space, becoming the first person to have spent a full year in space.  They returned to Earth July 16.  Soyuz T-15 was the last mission to use the Soyuz -T spacecraft since it was replaced by the Soyuz-TM.