Soyuz 10

Description

Soyuz 10 was piloted by Commander Shatalov, Flight Engineer Yeliseyev, and Systems Engineer Rukavishnikov. Soyuz 10 was launched into an orbit in the same plane as the unmanned Salyut (71-032A). Orbit corrections to reduce the apogee and perigee of Soyuz 10 to prepare for rendezvous with Salyut took 24 hr. Salyut was maneuvered four times, Soyuz 10 made three principal maneuvers and more orbital adjustments on the basis of instructions from the tracking ship Akademik Sergey Korolov located in the Atlantic. Automatic devices maneuvered Soyuz 10 until the two crafts were 180 m apart. The crew found the docking maneuver extremely nerve-wracking. They were able to see the brightly colored Salyut only with the aid of optical devices when the ships were 15 km apart, and the problems of docking with a large unmanned, non-maneuvering mass were quite different from the joining of two Soyuz, each able to adjust its position. Also, new telemetry systems, new rendezvous systems, and new docking equipment were used. The two ships remained docked for 5.5 hr. After undocking, Soyuz 10 flew around Salyut, and the crew took many photographs. Salyut was described as the first of its kind, with no precursors. Externally mounted TV cameras covered the approach, docking, and separation. Retrorockets were fired at the first opportunity after undocking to permit return to earth. The landing in Karaganda, the first (pre-dawn) landing of a manned spacecraft, was a success.