On May 13, Vladimir Dzhanibekov, pilot cosmonaut and double hero of the Soviet Union, celebrated his 80th birthday. Dzhanibekov completed five orbital flights as a spaceship commander, thus becoming the most proficient and merited cosmonaut in the USSR. Here is the report about his last, most dangerous and, perhaps, most challenging flight.
On February 11, 1985, the Soviet space station Salyut-7 had an emergency. Communication was lost due to a malfunction. After that, the station was de-energized and went totally out of operation. There was no crew in orbit at that time. The station was operating in unmanned mode. Having no electricity, the spacecraft started cooling down and slowly descending approaching the ground.
The risk of the station falling down was very real. No one could guess where it might actually land. Had the wreckage fallen on a city or a densely populated area, it would not have been possible to avoid the disaster. On top of human casualties and an international row, the collapse of the space station would have caused serious damage to the prestige of the Soviet Union in the space race. Having faced these circumstances, the country's leadership and the management of the Soviet space program decided to send the most experienced crew into space to save the Salyut-7 station. Vladimir Dzhanibekov was appointed as the commander, and Viktor Savinykh was assigned as the onboard engineer.
The Salyut-7 crew was finalized by mid-March, and the cosmonauts embarked on exhausting training on the ground. They practiced thousands of various scenarios on the docking stimulator. Vladimir Dzhanibekov stayed behind the controls for days practicing his skills until they became automatic. Savinykh examined all the equipment documentation, trained to get used to finding his way around the compartments by touch and feel in complete darkness. Vladimir Dzhanibekov, the spaceship commander, and Savinykh, the flight engineer, comprised the crew of Soyuz T-13. The spacecraft was to deliver the rescue crew to the dead Salyut-7. No one could say with reasonable certainty what had happened at the station and what systems would be in need of repair in the first place. That fact made the situation even more challenging. Therefore, they had to be ready for all sorts of unexpected developments.
Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh. Photo credit: www.therussianamerica.com
Soyuz T-13 also required special preparation. The automatic docking system had to be removed since it was completely useless for this mission. It was required to install laser ranging equipment in the cockpit. Also, the complementary controls had to be installed so that the rendezvous transfer could be observed from the side window of the spacecraft. The crew members were provided with night vision instruments in case they had to dock on the night side of the Earth. Supplies on Salut-7 could be frozen by space cold, so it was impossible to rely on using them. This is why extra supplies of food and provisions were put in place of the chair for the third crew member.
The training of cosmonauts and the preparation of the spacecraft took nearly 4 months. It was the early morning of June 6, 1985, when Soyuz T-13 with Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh aboard was finally launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome. It headed toward Salut-7 which was silently drifting somewhere in outer space. No one would be able to help them now. They had the support of the entire Mission Control Center with its qualified personnel, such as pilots, engineers, and doctors, the space engineering office, and the plant that had designed and assembled every component of the station. Nevertheless, It was them who had to face the malfunctioning station 300 km (185 miles) above the ground. Their task of bringing the station back to life was accompanied by an enormous risk to their lives. Actually, considering the degree of risk, they had a one-way ticket.
Thus, Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh were on the way to the station following the trajectory calculated by the mathematicians of the Mission Control Center. The launch of Soyuz had been fine, and the rescue team started its long journey to the dead Salyut-7. Actually, the "rescue team" would be an overstatement. There were only two members, Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh. Yet, the crew was great!
The spacecraft received data on the position of the Salyut from ground tracking stations. At the end of the second day of the flight, its distance to Salyut was 10 kilometers (6 miles). The station was seen from the spacecraft's window and looked like a tiny star. However, it wasn't a star. It was the Salyut-7 station.
The star was getting brighter and brighter. Taking advantage of the automatic approach mode, Vladimir Dzhanibekov managed to shorten the distance between the station and the spaceship to 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) and switched to manual control. They were approaching the Salyut smoothly to avoid overtaking the Salyut later. Continuously estimating the distance with a laser rangefinder and monitoring the position of the spacecraft by performing the visual check, Vladimir Dzhanibekov brought Soyuz to a distance of about 200 meters (650 feet) to the station and reduced the speed to almost zero. At that moment it became clear that Salyut-7 was facing the spacecraft the wrong way! The docking station on the nearest side was not operational, so the cosmonauts had to fly around the station in manual mode. Viktor Savinykh performed all the complex calculations using coordinates from the MCC, and Vladimir Dzhanibekov implemented them perfectly.
They were flying very close to the Salyut. However, this close proximity was a huge chasm of uncertainty. The worst problem was discovered. It turned out that the station was facing the spacecraft with a failed docking unit. Docking was impossible in this case. It had to be canceled. An attempt to fly around the station could result in tragedy. The fly-around maneuver involved a high risk of the cosmonauts' deaths, and then the station would definitely crash down on the heads of the inhabitants of the Earth.
The cosmonauts wanted to fly around the station despite the risk. They inquired the MCC. After a long silence, the cosmonauts, however, were suggested to give it try.
At this point, it is important to explain to the readers that the station only seems to be flying smoothly and slowly. Its speed was 8 kilometers (5 miles) per second. Since the rescue spacecraft was supposed to be flying alongside the station, its speed should be about the same. There is no space for mistakes in this case. It was a maneuver where failure was not an option.
Finally, the fly-around maneuver was completed! It was a huge success. Then the docking had to be made. The process of docking the spacecraft to the station had to be performed manually. It was an extremely challenging task that required extensive skills and utmost care. Vladimir Dzhanibekov took some time to think about it and proceeded with the docking. Everyone in MCC watched him breathlessly and silently. The docking process commenced. The speed of the dead station relative to the Soyuz T-13 spacecraft was 0. It means that they were moving side by side and covered 8 kilometers (5 miles) per second. The docking was performed by Vladimir Dzhanibekov at the controls of the spacecraft. His face was calm and serious. Continuously estimating the distance with a laser rangefinder, Vladimir Dzhanibekov monitored every position of the spacecraft.
Soyuz slowly approached the docking station just like a nimble-footed feline. The slightest mistake could cause the ship to hit the hull of the station and damage the docking port or get a puncture altogether. The price of a mistake was very high. The fingers of Vladimir Dzhanibekov's right hand barely touched the control handle; this operation was extremely delicate and elaborate. The absolutely calm face of Vladimir Dzhanibekov gave an impression that his fingers were controlling the spacecraft themselves independently of his will. This was a virtue he had acquired through countless training sessions on the ground. Nevertheless, the tension was at its peak for both of them. After all, if the docking had failed, the dead station could no longer have been disconnected from the spaceship, which would mean death. Soyuz T-13 had a short on-orbit life.
Finally, there came a point when the spacecraft decelerated for an instant, there was a slight jolt, and the stalks of the automatic locks clanked. Soyuz was securely connected to the Salyut. The most challenging phase of the docking operation was completed. Vladimir Dzhanibekov let the engine controls go. He still did not fully realize that he had probably completed the most crucial task of his life. It was the first time in history that a man had made a docking with an uncontrolled space object. It was a triumph of human thought and will! Catching a grain of sand at a great distance from Earth, approaching it at breakneck speed, and letting the thread go into the needle at the first attempt could be considered a real miracle if it had not been computed by hundreds of engineers and scientists back on the ground.
Vladimir Dzhanibekov laid back and closed his eyes. Victor did not disturb him. He was aware that his friend was thinking through the steps he had taken and checking whether they had been performed correctly. At last Vladimir Dzhanibekov turned to Viktor Savinykh and smiled, “This is it, Victor, the docking has been successful.”
They shared a hug. The smile on Viktor Savinykh's face failed to disguise his manly tear. He didn't have time to dry them off.
Vladimir Dzhanibekov. Photo credit: Хранитель
Well, just imagine what was going on at that point in the Mission Control Center! I was not there during that time. I was at Baikonur on an important assignment from the Deputy General Designer. Later on, I was told everything in detail.
The room was vibrating with a thunderous hooray. People embraced each other and kissed. Many of them had tears in their eyes. This historical event in the development of manned cosmonautics will be included in all world textbooks. There had been manual dockings before it. They have been also performed ever since. However, it was only the crew of Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh that docked with an uncontrolled object in outer space in such a way.
Houston also recorded a successful docking, although it did not mean anything yet. The station still had to be recovered, which assumed a lot of risky and responsible activities. Back then, they continued to prepare the Challenger shuttle at Cape Canaveral. Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh had a clear understanding that the docking was just a small part of the task. There was tremendous life-threatening work to be accomplished. To begin with, they had to check whether the station was decompressed. That could have been caused by the temperature fluctuations that the dead station was exposed to, by meteorites that might have punctured its hull, by a fire, or by an explosion...
The cosmonauts did understand the above, so they proceeded to work without delay. They installed the equipment and once again made sure that there was no decompression of the station. Afterward, Vladimir Dzhanibekov communicated with the MCC.
MCC, "If you are ready to open the station access hatch, you may proceed."
Vladimir Dzhanibekov, "We are ready. I am opening the hatch. Ta-da, it's open."
MCC, "What do you see?"
Vladimir Dzhanibekov, "No. I mean, I've opened the lock. Now I'm trying to open the hatch. (A little silence). We are going in."
MCC, "What's it that you feel first? What is the temperature?"
Vladimir Dzhanibekov, "It's freezing cold, fellows."
The round hatch lid slowly moved aside. There was absolute darkness and cold inside. "Two men wearing gas masks slowly floated into the space station, groping in the empty, cold darkness... That could probably be the start of some sci-fi thriller. This episode would certainly look very impressive on a cinema screen. Actually, it was impossible to see us: there was creepy silence, opaque darkness, and space cold.
This is how we found Salyut-7, which was actually losing altitude and did not respond to call signals from the MCC. We turned on flashlights. The generated light revealed portholes with the inner side covered by a thick crust of ice, hoarfrost on the control panels, and lifeless LEDs and switches.
The station was dead. There was no electric power, which meant that all life-support and temperature control systems had been shut down, and the water reserves were frozen. The worst part was that all the equipment had been exposed to sub-zero temperatures, and their performance was now questionable," Viktor Savinykh described the first impression of his visit to the dead Salyut-7 station.
Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh, wearing gas masks and winter jackets, slowly got out of the hatch and floated through the station's sections and compartment, inspected it, and proceeded to analyze the overall situation. The temperature at the station was minus 7 degrees Celsius.
The power supply circuit was unresponsive. The first task was to restore the atmosphere revitalization system. The interim system was powered by the Soyuz power unit. The fans started buzzing quietly. When the analysis of the station's atmosphere did not reveal any significant irregularities, it was decided to remove the gas masks as they hindered the field of vision. The crew had to move forward to the working compartment. The first thing the cosmonauts saw while inspecting the station was the station's logbook on its worktable. "The Logbook of the Salyut-7 Orbital Space Station." I will quote its contents later. Having inspected the working compartment, they floated to the next compartment. The environment inside it was just the same: hoarfrost on the walls, darkness, and total silence. There were dry bread toasts and salt tablets taped with duct tape to the table. That was a traditional gesture of hospitality from the previous crew. It looked pretty creepy. Logs and numerous manuals were neatly arranged on shelves, everything was clean. There were no traces of fire, flooding, or other disasters. The compartment was very cold.
The station had the feel of a forsaken house, except that the shutters on the windows didn't slam to the wind. There is no wind or windows in the space. The homeowners abandoned it a long time ago, and now it was time to bring it back to order. The cosmonauts couldn't wait to get to work. Viktor Savinykh followed the directions from the MCC and checked the power systems of the spacecraft. Two of the eight accumulators were completely unserviceable after a long idle time. It was impossible to recharge them. They had to try to restore the other six. It was too dangerous to power them from the Soyuz power system. Should there be a short-circuit fault, the Soyuz electronic equipment could also be damaged, which would mean the inevitable death of the crew.
They had one option only: to arrange the power supply from the solar panels. This involved twisting the wires of 16 cables by hand. The task had to be completed in freezing temperatures under the dim light of a flashlight. Once this work was completed, the cosmonauts moved to the Soyuz and used its engines to position the solar panels at a better angle to the Sun. The effort was successful! The devices showed that the charging was slowly beginning. They had to wait patiently. The cosmonauts returned back to their warm ship and tried to figure out all the possible causes of the accumulators' malfunction.
About a day later, Viktor Savinykh decided to connect the accumulators to the power system of the station. It took a few clicks of the switches to have a genuine miracle. The lights went on one after the other, the temperature control began to work, and the atmosphere revitalization system started hissing. All systems of the spacecraft gradually began to function. Salyut-7 was coming back to life.
Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh did a tremendous amount of work over several days. They had to check all the systems of the station one by one. They also tested the performance of components exposed to extremely cold temperatures, checked all the cables, and removed the enormous amount of condensation that was literally splashing behind the cabin panels. They replaced everything that could be replaced and disconnected, everything that could not be replaced. The cause of the station's power outage was found in the course of this work. One of the sensors that monitored the charge of the accumulators failed and was giving a false report that the accumulators were charged to a full capacity. The onboard computer believed it and repeatedly disabled the power supply from the solar panels interrupting the charge. Due to a short-circuit fault in the radio transmitter circuit and loss of communication with the MCC, it was impossible to disable the faulty sensor, and when the accumulators were completely discharged, the station settled down into endless space sleep.
As it usually happens, the cause of the high-cost breakdown that had to be repaired risking people's lives was a set of minor circumstances. A drop of condensation that had ended up on the contacts of the radio transmitter and a faulty pennyworth accumulator sensor had almost ruined the overall prestige of the Soviet space program.
Vladimir Dzhanibekov shared: “We moved into the station environment inch by inch, step by step, one way or another. We didn't consider each day like that to be a victory. It was just another accomplished task that helped us deal with the next problem. Once the temperature at the station became above zero, all the ice inside melted. There was an actual danger of fire: water and electricity are known to be incompatible. It was avoided by some miracle. The threat of fire hovered over us. The critical point was reached when everything started to melt in above-zero temperatures. The atmosphere revitalization system was not in operation for two weeks. Furthermore, the human body releases about 800 grams of water per day through the pores. Consequently, the whole station was completely covered with a thin layer of water. That was the most frightening moment. There were cases when you would hit the wall and a lot of small splashes would spray out of it. We used rags to wipe it up. We used everything we had at hand. Even things left by the previous crew were torn to rags. All the connectors that had been docked were thoroughly wiped down. A drop of water could have gotten in and there would have been a short-circuit fault, so a fire could have broken out at any moment. We were very much worried about that situation. There was a time when Vladimir and I slept in shifts. Then we turned on the ventilation, the cooler-dehumidifier unit, which extracts moisture from a large volume. We regained control of the station on the seventh day of the flight," the heroes later reported.
On the seventh day of the flight, the crew managed to completely replace the communications system, which had burned out due to a short-circuit fault. Thus, the MCC was able to regain control of the station. Aside from the high fire hazard that could be caused by a drop of moisture on the contacts of equipment, radio transmitters, accumulators, and sensors, carbon dioxide poisoning posed a great threat to the cosmonauts. Viktor Savinykh said about it the following, "Both of us exhaled carbon dioxide. There was no convection. So, it did not simply fly away somewhere but remained nearby. We could easily be poisoned or suffocated. That's why one of us was working, while the other one fanned him with our flight documents. That's how we kept an eye on each other."
The cosmonauts had a lot of issues with water and food: "A cargo resupply spacecraft with food was supposed to arrive at the station before our expedition. However, Salyut-7 was not ready to receive a cargo spacecraft at that time. We had a small stock of provisions with us onboard and some unfrozen food items left by the previous expedition. Yet the biggest problem was the lack of drinking water. We brought 10 liters of water which we used while repairing the station. We had to save water although our doctors insisted that we should drink as much as possible. We had to refrain from dishes that needed to be diluted with water. When the power supply was restored, we warmed up and ate canned food remaining at the station. Later, we found a whole box of processed cheese "Druzhba". The doctors said we shouldn't eat it as it had expired. However, we ate it with pleasure... There was a moment when the MCC thought we would have to be brought to Earth, i.e. landed because of the lack of water... Seventeen days later, on June 23, the Progress-24 cargo spacecraft docked at the station in automatic mode. We received various supplies, water, and meals that we had selected for ourselves back on Earth. My (Vladimir Dzhanibekov) choices included such dishes as pea soup and pickle soup, fish, and meat products.The Progress-24 spacecraft brought lots of rags but we did not need them anymore. The station operated very well and was perfectly dry."
Spacewalk. Having stepped out of the airlock onto the station platform, the cosmonauts encountered a spectacular scene: the Earth was slowly drifting beneath the station like a huge map. The Earth's edges were glowing brightly with different colors of the rainbow. Yet, it wasn't the Earth that was floating. It was the Salyut-7 station moving at an enormous speed of 8 kilometers (5 miles) per second. They were overwhelmed by that scene and didn't even begin their important work right away.
The installation of the solar panels on the Salyut-7 space station was the last operation to bring the station back to life. Actually, it was not an operation to bring the station back to life but a routine replacement of units that had already been worn out.
Thus, the Salyut-7 orbital space station was completely restored and started its normal operation. Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh are the heroes who accomplished all the tasks assigned to them, saved the country's prestige, and prevented a disastrous scenario for all mankind.
Following the rescue of the orbital station, its life-support systems operated without any interruptions and in regular mode. All these factors indicated that Salyut-7 had been successfully recovered. Our heroes Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh got involved in medical experiments and grew cotton. On September 18th, 1985, Soyuz T-14 with the crew of Vladimir Vasyutin, Georgy Grechko, and Alexandr Volkov docked to Salyut-7. It was planned that Vladimir Dzhanibekov, who had worked on orbit for 100 days allowed by doctors, would return to Earth together with Georgy Grechko, while Viktor Savinykh would continue a long expedition together with Vladimir Vasyutin and Alexandr Volkov.
Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh spent more than 100 days on Salyut-7. On September 18, they welcomed a new crew that they had been looking forward to. The guys brought letters, gifts, honey, and lemons from Earth... They enthusiastically worked all together on scientific matters for a week. The guests brought an interesting sunset-related program. However, Vladimir Dzhanibekov had to go back to Earth, which definitely made him very unhappy. Still, there was nothing that could be done about it, so he and Georgy Grechko left on Soyuz T-13, thus leaving a new spacecraft on Salute-7. Viktor Savinykh asked Vladimir Dzhanibekov to bring a bar of space chocolate to his daughter. Other crew members continued their work on the station. Viktor Savinykh was to spend a year on the station. In March, the Salyut-7 space station was to welcome a female expedition consisting of Svetlana Savitskaya, Yekaterina Ivanova, and Yelena Dobrokvashina.
Nevertheless, Viktor Savinykh, Vladimir Vasyutin, and Alexandr Volkov had to return to Earth as early as November. Vladimir Vasyutin became unwell. His urological disorder became worse. He had concealed the information about it fearing being dismissed from the cosmonaut corps. The crew did its best to treat him. Viktor Savinykh prepared the required antibiotics for him following the MCC's recommendations and clarifying the dosage. Nevertheless, Vasyutin had a kind of inner crisis. The fever and depression persisted. Vladimir Vasyutin and Alexandr Volkov had to return following the doctor's request.
For two nights Viktor Savinykh hardly had any sleep. He was preparing the station for conservation. It was supposed to operate in automatic mode. On November 21, 1985, Viktor Savinykh, Alexandr Volkov, and Vladimir Vasyutin returned to Earth in Soyuz T-14.
Isaak Hazan, the leading designer of Space and Missile Systems, holder of two gold medals awarded by the Federation of Cosmonautics of the USSR
