CHINA FIRST SPACE STATION--Tiangong-1 ( 2011-TILL NOW)

China's Human Spaceflight Program: Background and List of Crewed and Automated Missions

Marcia S. Smith

CHINA'S HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT PROGRAM:  BACKGROUND AND LIST OF ALL CREWED AND AUTOMATED LAUNCHES --   

China's human spaceflight program, Project 921, officially began in 1992.  The launch of Shenzhou-10 in June 2013 was the tenth flight in the series, but only the fifth to carry a crew.
Shenzhou 1-4 were automated tests of the spacecraft.   Shenzhou-8 was an automated test of rendezvous and docking procedures with the Tiangong-1 space station.
Tiangong-1, China's first space station, was launched in September 2011.  It hosted the automated Shenzhou-8 in 2011 and two three-person crews:  Shenzhou-9 in 2012 and Shenzhou-10 in 2013.  
The Tiangong-1 space station is a small (8.6 metric ton) module. As first space stations go, it is rather modest -- just less than half the mass of the world's first space station, the Soviet Union's Salyut 1.  Launched in 1971, Salyut 1 had a mass of about 18.6 metric tons.  The first U.S. space station, Skylab, launched in 1973, had a mass of about 77 metric tons.  Today's International Space Station (ISS), a partnership among the United States, Russia, Japan, Europe, and Canada, has a mass of about 400 metric tons and has been permanently occupied by 2-6 person crews rotating on 4-6 month missions since the year 2000.
Chinese astronauts are often called "taikonauts" in the West. English-language Chinese reports call them astronauts.  Shenzhou means Divine Vessel.  Tiangong means Heavenly Palace.  All human spaceflight-related launches have been from the Jiuquan Space Launch Center in the Gobi desert.
The following SpacePolicyOnline.com table lists all ten Chinese human spaceflight missions to date, including automated tests and those that carried crews.

LIST OF CHINESE HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT MISSIONS (Prepared by SpacePolicyOnline.com)
Mission	Launch Date	Crew (# of flights)	Comments
Shenzhou-1	Nov. 19, 1999	none	Automated test
Shenzhou-2	Jan. 9, 2001	none	Automated test
Shenzhou-3	Mar. 25, 2002	none	Automated test
Shenzhou-4	Dec. 29, 2002	none	Automated test
Shenzhou-5	Oct. 15, 2003	Yang Liwei	First Chinese astronaut 21 hour 12 min mission
Shenzhou-6	Oct. 12, 2005	Fei Junlong Nie Haisheng	First Chinese 2-person crew 5 day mission
Shenzhou-7	Sept. 25, 2008	Zhai Zhigang Liu Boming Jing Haipeng	First Chinese 3-person crew First Chinese spacewalk (Zhai for 22 min; Liu did stand-up EVA in airlock for about 2 min) 3 day mission Small (40 kg) subsatellite ejected
Tiangong-1	Sept. 29, 2011	Visited	First Chinese space station (8.5 metric tons)
Shenzhou-8	Oct. 31, 2011	none	Automated test of rendezvous and docking with Tiangong-1 (docked twice)
Shenzhou-9	July 19, 2012	Jing Haipeng (2) Liu Wang Liu Yang	First Chinese space station crew; automated and manual docking Liu Yang first Chinese woman astronaut Jing first Chinese astronaut to make 2 flights 13 day mission
Shenzhou-10	June 11, 2013	Nie Haisheng (2) Zhang Xiaoguang Wang Yaping	Automated docking with Tiangong-1 June 13.  Later did manual docking test, and, just before reentry, a fly-around (China's first). Wang second Chinese woman astronaut and first "teacher in space" because she taught a lesson from space 15 day mission

RUSSIAN sixth space station - SALYUT-7 1982-1991

Salyut 7 (Russian: Салют-7; English: Salute 7) (aka DOS-6^[1]) was a space station in low Earth orbit from April 1982 to February 1991.^[1] It was first manned in May 1982 with two crew via Soyuz T-5, and last visited in June 1986, by Soyuz T-15.^[1] Various crew and modules were used over its lifetime, including a total of 12 manned and 15 unmanned launches.^[1] Supporting spacecraft included the Soyuz T, Progress, and TKS spacecraft.^[1]
It was part of the Soviet Salyut programme, and launched on 19 April 1982 on a Proton rocket from Site 200/40 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in what was then the Soviet Union. Salyut 7 was part of the transition from "monolithic" to "modular" space stations, acting as a testbed for docking of additional modules and expanded station operations. It was the tenth space station of any kind launched. Salyut 7 was the last Space Station of the Salyut Program, which was replaced by Mir.

Expeditions

Expedition	Crew	Launch date	Flight up	Landing date	Flight down	Duration (days)
Salyut 7 – EO-1	Anatoli Berezovoy, Valentin Lebedev[1]	13 May 1982 09:58:05 UTC	Soyuz T-5	10 December 1982 19:02:36 UTC	Soyuz T-7	211.38
Salyut 7 – EP-1	Vladimir Dzhanibekov, Aleksandr Ivanchenkov, Jean-Loup Chrétien – France	24 June 1982 16:29:48 UTC	Soyuz T-6	2 July 1982 14:20:40 UTC	Soyuz T-6	7.91
Salyut 7 – EP-2	Leonid Popov, Aleksandr Serebrov, Svetlana Savitskaya	19 August 1982 17:11:52 UTC	Soyuz T-7	27 August 1982 15:04:16 UTC	Soyuz T-5	7.91
Salyut 7 – EO-2	Vladimir Lyakhov, Aleksandr Pavlovich Aleksandrov	27 June 1983 09:12:00 UTC	Soyuz T-9	23 November 1983 19:58:00 UTC	Soyuz T-9	149.45
Salyut 7 – EO-3	Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov, Oleg Atkov	8 February 1984 12:07:26 UTC	Soyuz T-10	2 October 1984 10:57:00 UTC	Soyuz T-11	236.95
Salyut 7 – EP-3	Yuri Malyshev, Gennady Strekalov, Rakesh Sharma – India	3 April 1984 13:08:00 UTC	Soyuz T-11	11 April 1984 10:48:48 UTC	Soyuz T-10	7.90
Salyut 7 – EP-4	Vladimir Dzhanibekov, Svetlana Savitskaya, Igor Volk	17 July 1984 17:40:54 UTC	Soyuz T-12	29 July 1984 12:55:30 UTC	Soyuz T-12	11.80
Salyut 7 – EO-4-1a	Viktor Savinykh	6 June 1985 06:39:52 UTC	Soyuz T-13	21 November 1985 10:31:00 UTC	Soyuz T-14	168.16
Salyut 7 – EO-4-1b	Vladimir Dzhanibekov	6 June 1985 06:39:52 UTC	Soyuz T-13	26 September 1985 09:51:58 UTC	Soyuz T-13	112.13
Salyut 7 – EP-5	Georgi Grechko	17 September 1985 12:38:52 UTC	Soyuz T-14	26 September 1985 09:51:58 UTC	Soyuz T-13	8.88
Salyut 7 – EO-4-2	Vladimir Vasyutin, Alexander Volkov	17 September 1985 12:38:52 UTC	Soyuz T-14	21 November 1985 10:31:00 UTC	Soyuz T-14	64.91
Salyut 7 – EO-5	Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov	13 March 1986 12:33:09 UTC	Soyuz T-15	16 July 1986 12:34:05 UTC	Soyuz T-15	125.00 50 on S7

Spacewalks

Spacecraft	Spacewalker	Start – UTC	End – UTC	Duration	Comments
Salyut 7 – PE-1 – EVA 1	Lebedev, Berezevoi[1]	30 July 1982 02:39	30 July 1982 05:12	2 h, 33 min	Retrieve experiments
Salyut 7 – PE-2 – EVA 1	Lyakhov, Alexandrov	1 November 1983 04:47	1 November 1983 07:36	2 h, 50 min	Add solar array
Salyut 7 – PE-2 – EVA 2	Lyakhov, Alexandrov	3 November 1983 03:47	3 November 1983 06:62	2 h, 55 min	Add solar array
Salyut 7 – PE-3 – EVA 1	Kizim, Solovyov	23 April 1984 04:31	23 April 1984 08:46	4 h, 20 min	ODU repair
Salyut 7 – PE-3 – EVA 2	Kizim, Solovyov	26 April 1984 02:40	26 April 1984 07:40	4 h, 56 min	Repair ODU
Salyut 7 – PE-3 – EVA 3	Kizim, Solovyov	29 April 1984 01:35	29 April 1984 04:20	2 h, 45 min	Repair ODU
Salyut 7 – PE-3 – EVA 4	Kizim, Solovyov	3 May 1984 23:15	4 May 1984 02:00	2 h, 45 min	Repair ODU
Salyut 7 – PE-3 – EVA 5	Kizim, Solovyov	18 May 1984 17:52	18 May 1984 20:57	3 h, 05 min	Add solar array
Salyut 7 – VE-4 – EVA 1	Savitskaya, Dzhanibekov	25 July 1984 14:55	25 July 1984 18:29	3 h, 35 min	First woman EVA
Salyut 7 – PE-3 – EVA 6	Kizim, Solovyov	8 August 1984 08:46	8 August 1984 13:46	5 h, 00 min	Complete ODU repair
Salyut 7 – PE-4 – EVA 1	Dzhanibekov, Savinykh	2 August 1985 07:15	2 August 1985 12:15	5 h, 00 min	Augment solar arrays
Salyut 7 – PE-6 – EVA 1	Kizim, Solovyov	28 May 1986 05:43	28 May 1986 09:33	3 h, 50 min	Test truss, retrieve samples
Salyut 7 – PE-6 – EVA 2	Kizim, Solovyov	31 May 1986 04:57	31 May 1986 09:57	5 h, 00 min	Test truss

  cargo delivery 

Progress 13[9]	114[10]	23 May 1982 05:57	Soyuz-U	Site 1/5	Salyut 7	25 May 07:56:36	4 June 06:31:00	6 June 00:05:00	First Progress flight to Salyut 7.
Progress 14[9]	117[10]	10 July 1982 19:58	Soyuz-U	Site 1/5	Salyut 7	12 July 11:41:00	10 August 22:11:00	13 August 01:29:00
Progress 15[9]	112[10]	18 September 1982 04:59	Soyuz-U	Site 1/5	Salyut 7	20 September 06:12:00	14 October 13:46:00	16 October 17:08:00
Progress 16[9]	115[10]	31 October 1982 11:20	Soyuz-U	Site 1/5	Salyut 7	2 November 13:22:00	13 December 15:32:00	14 December 17:17:00
Progress 17[9]	119[10]	17 August 1983 12:08	Soyuz-U	Site 1/5	Salyut 7	19 August 13:47:00	17 September 11:44:00	17 September 23:43:00
Progress 18[9]	118[10]	20 October 1983 09:59	Soyuz-U	Site 31/6	Salyut 7	22 October 11:34:00	13 November 03:08:00	16 November 04:18:00
Progress 19[9]	120[10]	21 February 1984 06:46:05	Soyuz-U	Site 31/6	Salyut 7	23 February 08:21:00	31 March 09:40:00	1 April 18:18:00
Progress 20[9]	116[10]	15 April 1984 08:12:53	Soyuz-U2	Site 31/6	Salyut 7	17 April 09:22:00	6 May 17:46:00	7 May 00:32:51
Progress 21[9]	121[10]	7 May 1984 22:47:15	Soyuz-U	Site 31/6	Salyut 7	10 May 00:10:00	26 May 09:41:00	26 May 15:00:30
Progress 22[9]	124[10]	28 May 1984 14:12:52	Soyuz-U	Site 31/6	Salyut 7	30 May 15:47:00	15 July 13:36:00	15 July 18:52:00
Progress 23[9]	123[10]	14 August 1984 06:28:15	Soyuz-U	Site 1/5	Salyut 7	16 August 08:11:00	26 August 16:13:00	28 August 01:28:00
Progress 24[9]	125[10]	21 Jun[10] e 1985 00:39:41	Soyuz-U	Site 1/5	Salyut 7	23 June 02:54:00	15 July 12:28:00	15 July 22:33:31
Kosmos 1669[9]	126[10]	19 July 1985 13:05:08	Soyuz-U	Site 1/5	Salyut 7	21 July 15:05:00	28 August 21:50:00	30 August 01:20:00	Only Progress flight to have been given a Kosmos designation. Last Progress flight to Salyut 7.

 

 Specifications

Specifications of the baseline 1982 Salyut 7 module, from Mir Hardware Heritage (1995, NASA RP1357):^[1]

• Length – about 16 m
• Maximum diameter – 4.15 meters
• Habitable volume – 90 m³
• Weight at launch – 19,824 kg
• Launch vehicle – Proton rocket (three-stage)
• Orbital inclination – 51.6°
• Span across solar arrays – 17 m
• Area of solar arrays – 51 m²
• Number of solar arrays – 3
• Electricity available – 4.5 kW
• Resupply carriers – Soyuz-T, Progress, TKS spacecraft
• Docking System – Igla or manual approach
• Number of docking ports – 2
• Total manned missions – 12
• Total unmanned missions – 15
• Total long-duration missions – 6
• Number of main engines – 2
• Main engine thrust (each) – 300 kg

RUSSIAN 5TH SPACE STATION- SALYUT-6 -2ND generation 1977-1982

Salyut 6 (Russian: Салют-6; lit. Salute 6), DOS-5, was a Soviet orbital space station, the eighth flown as part of the Salyut programme. Launched on 29 September 1977 by a Proton rocket, the station was the first of the 'second-generation' type of space station. Salyut 6 possessed several revolutionary advances over the earlier Soviet space stations, which it nevertheless resembled in overall design. These included the addition of a second docking port, a new main propulsion system and the station's primary scientific instrument, the BST-1M multispectral telescope. The addition of the second docking port made crew handovers and station resupply by unmanned Progress freighters possible for the first time, which in turn allowed the programme to evolve from short-duration station visits to long-duration expeditions, marking the beginning of the transition to multi-modular, long-term research stations in space.
From 1977 until 1982, Salyut 6 was visited by five long- and eleven short-duration crews, including cosmonauts from Warsaw Pact countries as part of the Intercosmos programme. These crews were responsible for carrying out the primary missions of Salyut 6, including astronomy, Earth-resources observations and the study of the effect of spaceflight on the human body. Following the completion of these missions and the launch of its successor, Salyut 7, Salyut 6 was deorbited on 29 July 1982, almost five years after its launch.^[1][3]

Station operations

Docking operations

Spacecraft	Docking day	Docking time	Port	Undocking day	Undocking time	Duration (days)
Soyuz 25	10 October 1977	07:09	front	11 October 1977	~08:00	1.03
Soyuz 26	11 December 1977	06:02	rear	16 January 1978	14:22	36.35
Soyuz 27	11 January 1978	17:06	front	16 March 1978	11:00	63.75
Progress 1	22 January 1978	13:12	rear	7 February 1978	08:55	15.82
Soyuz 28	3 March 1978	20:10	rear	10 March 1978	13:25	6.72
Soyuz 29	17 June 1978	00:58	front	3 September 1978	11:23	78.43
Soyuz 30	29 June 1978	20:08	rear	5 July 1978	13:15	6.71
Progress 2	9 July 1978	15:59	rear	2 August 1978	07:57	23.66
Progress 3	10 August 1978	03:00	rear	21 August 1978	-	~11
Soyuz 31	27 August 1978	19:37	rear	7 September 1978	13:53	10.76
Soyuz 31	7 September 1978	14:21	front	2 November 1978	10:46	55.85
Progress 4	6 October 1978	04:00	rear	24 October 1978	16:07	18.50
Soyuz 32	26 February 1979	08:30	front	13 June 1979	12:51	107.18
Progress 5	14 March 1979	10:20	rear	3 April 1979	19:10	20.37
Progress 6	15 May 1979	09:19	rear	8 June 1979	11:00	24.07
Soyuz 34	8 June 1979	23:02	rear	14 June 1979	19:18	5.84
Soyuz 34	14 June 1979	~19:50	front	19 August 1979	12:08	65.86
Progress 7	30 June 1979	14:18	rear	18 July 1979	06:50	17.69
Soyuz T-1	19 December 1979	17:05	front	24 March 1980	00:04	94.29
Progress 8	29 March 1980	23:01	rear	25 April 1980	11:04	26.50
Soyuz 35	10 April 1980	18:16	front	3 June 1980	14:47	53.85
Progress 9	29 April 1980	11:09	rear	20 May 1980	21:51	21.45
Soyuz 36	27 May 1980	22:56	rear	4 June 1980	18:08	7.86
Soyuz 36	4 June 1980	19:38	front	31 July 1980	14:55	56.86
Soyuz T-2	6 June 1980	18:58	rear	9 June 1980	12:24	2.73
Progress 10	1 July 1980	08:53	rear	18 July 1980	01:21	16.69
Soyuz 37	24 June 1980	23:02	rear	1 August 1980	19:43	7.86
Soyuz 37	1 August 1980	~20:10	front	11 October 1980	09:30	70.56
Soyuz 38	19 September 1980	20:49	rear	26 September 1980	12:35	6.62
Progress 11	30 September 1980	20:03	rear	9 December 1980	13:23	69.72
Soyuz T-3	28 November 1980	18:54	front	10 December 1980	09:10	11.59
Progress 12	26 January 1981	18:56	rear	19 March 1981	21:14	52.09
Soyuz T-4	13 March 1981	23:33	front	26 May 1981	-	~74
Soyuz 39	23 March 1981	19:28	rear	30 March 1981	11:22
Soyuz 40	15 May 1981	21:50	rear	22 May 1981	13:37	6.66
Kosmos 1267	19 June 1981	10:52	front	permanently docked	-	-

Station crews

Expedition	Crew	Launch date	Flight up	Landing date	Flight down	Duration (days)
Salyut 6 - EO-1	Yuri Romanenko, Georgi Grechko	10 December 1977 01:18:40	Soyuz 26	16 March 1978 11:18:47	Soyuz 27	96.42
Salyut 6 - EP-1	Vladimir Dzhanibekov, Oleg Makarov	10 January 1978 12:26:00	Soyuz 27	16 January 1978 11:24:58	Soyuz 26	5.96
Salyut 6 - EP-2	Aleksei Gubarev, Vladimír Remek - Czechoslovakia	2 March 1978 15:28:00	Soyuz 28	10 March 1978 13:44:00	Soyuz 28	7.93
Salyut 6 - EO-2	Vladimir Kovalyonok, Aleksandr Ivanchenkov	15 June 1978 20:16:45	Soyuz 29	2 November 1978 11:04:17	Soyuz 31	139.62
Salyut 6 - EP-3	Pyotr Klimuk, Miroslaw Hermaszewski - Poland	27 June 1978 15:27:21	Soyuz 30	5 July 1978 13:30:20	Soyuz 30	7.92
Salyut 6 - EP-4	Valery Bykovsky, Sigmund Jähn - German Democratic Republic	26 August 1978 14:51:30	Soyuz 31	3 September 1978 11:40:34	Soyuz 29	7.87
Salyut 6 - EO-3	Vladimir Lyakhov, Valery Ryumin	25 February 1979 11:53:49	Soyuz 32	19 August 1979 12:29:26	Soyuz 34	175.02
Salyut 6 - EO-4	Leonid Popov, Valery Ryumin	9 April 1980 13:38:22	Soyuz 35	11 October 1980 09:49:57	Soyuz 37	184.84
Salyut 6 - EP-5	Valery Kubasov, Bertalan Farkas - Hungary	26 May 1980 18:20:39	Soyuz 36	3 June 1980 15:06:23	Soyuz 35	7.87
Salyut 6 - EP-6	Yuri Malyshev, Vladimir Aksyonov	5 June 1980 14:19:30	Soyuz T-2	9 June 1980 12:39:00	Soyuz T-2	3.93
Salyut 6 - EP-7	Viktor Gorbatko, Pham Tuan - Vietnam	23 July 1980 18:33:03	Soyuz 37	31 July 1980 15:15:02	Soyuz 36	7.86
Salyut 6 - EP-8	Yuri Romanenko, Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez - Cuba	18 September 1980 19:11:03	Soyuz 38	26 September 1980 15:54:27	Soyuz 38	7.86
Salyut 6 - EO-5	Leonid Kizim, Oleg Makarov Gennady Strekalov	27 November 1980 14:18:28	Soyuz T-3	10 December 1980 09:26:10	Soyuz T-3	12.80
Salyut 6 - EO-6	Vladimir Kovalyonok, Viktor Savinykh	12 March 1981 19:00:11	Soyuz T-4	26 May 1981 12:37:34	Soyuz T-4	74.73
Salyut 6 - EP-9	Vladimir Dzhanibekov, Jugderdemidiyn Gurragcha - Mongolia	22 March 1981 14:58:55	Soyuz 39	30 March 1981 11:40:58	Soyuz 39	7.86
Salyut 6 - EP-10	Leonid Popov, Dumitru Prunariu - Romania	14 May 1981 17:16:38	Soyuz 40	22 May 1981 13:58:30	Soyuz 40	7.86

Spacewalks

EVA	Spacewalkers	Date	EVA Start	EVA End	Duration (hours)	Comments
Salyut 6 - PE-1	Romanenko & Grechko	19 December 1977	21:36	23:04	1:28	Test of Orlan-D spacesuit, inspection of docking apparatus and Medusa cassette deployment.
Salyut 6 - PE-2	Kovalyonok & Ivanchenkov	29 July 1978	04:00	06:20	2:05	Retrieval of Medusa cassette and passive micrometeoroid detector, deployment of radiation detector & new experimental cassettes.
Salyut 6 - PE-3	Ryumin & Lyakhov	15 August 1979	14:16	15:39	1:23	Removal of KRT-10 radio telescope dish, retrieval of experiment cassettes.

RUSSIAN fourth successfull space station-SALYUT5 1976-1977

Salyut 5 (OPS-3) (Russian: Салют-5; English translation Salute 5) was launched on 22 June 1976. It was the third and last Almaz military space station. Its launch and subsequent mission were both completed successfully, with three crews launching and two (Soyuz 21 and Soyuz 24) successfully boarding the craft for lengthy stays (the second crew on Soyuz 23 was unable to dock and had to abort). Salyut 5 reentered on 8 August 1977.
Following Salyut 5, the Soviet military decided that with the advent of more sophisticated spy satellites, the tactical advantages were not worth the expense of the program and withdrew from the programme. The focuses for the last two Salyut stations shifted towards civilian research and prestige for the Soviet Union.

Operation

Four manned missions to Salyut 5 were originally planned. The first, Soyuz 21, was launched from Baikonur on 6 July 1976, and docked at 13:40 UTC the next day.^[3] The primary objective of the Soyuz 21 mission aboard Salyut 5 was to conduct military experiments, however scientific research was also conducted, which included studying aquarium fish in microgravity and observing the sun. The crew also conducted a televised conference with school pupils. Cosmonauts Boris Volynov and Vitali Zholobov remained aboard Salyut 5 until 24 August, when they returned to Earth landing 200 km southwest of Kokchetav. The mission had been expected to last longer, however the air within Salyut 5 became contaminated, which affected the crew's psychological and physical condition, necessitating an emergency landing.
On 14 October 1976, Soyuz 23 was launched carrying Vyacheslav Zudov and Valery Rozhdestvensky to the space station. During approach for docking the next day, a faulty sensor incorrectly detected an unexpected lateral motion. The spacecraft's Igla automated docking system fired the spacecraft's manoeuvring thrusters in an attempt to stop the non-existent motion. Although the crew was able to deactivate the Igla system, the spacecraft had expended too much fuel to reattempt the docking under manual control. Soyuz 23 returned to Earth on 16 October without completing its mission objectives.
The last mission to Salyut 5, Soyuz 24, was launched on 7 February 1977. Its crew consisted of cosmonauts Viktor Gorbatko and Yury Glazkov, who conducted repairs aboard the station and vented the air which had been reported to be contaminated. Scientific experiments were conducted, including observation of the sun. The Soyuz 24 crew departed on 25 February. On 26 February the KSI reentry capsule was ejected from the station for recovery.^[4]
The fourth planned mission, which would have been designated Soyuz 25 if launched, was intended to visit the station for two weeks in July 1977.^[5] It would have been crewed by cosmonauts Anatoly Berezovoy and Mikhail Lisun; the backup crew for the Soyuz 24 mission. The mission was cancelled after higher fuel consumption than expected caused fuel reserves aboard Salyut 5 dropped to a level at which the mission could not have been safely completed.^[6] The spacecraft which was constructed for the Soyuz 25 mission was reused for the Soyuz 30 mission to Salyut 6. Since it could not be refuelled, and no longer had the fuel to sustain manned operations, Salyut 5 was deorbited on 8 August 1977, and broke up as it reentered the Earth's atmosphere.^[7]

Expedition	Crew	Launch (GMT)	Flight up	Landing (GMT)	Flight down	Duration (days)	Remarks
—	Boris Volynov Vitali Zholobov	6 June 1976 12:08	Soyuz 21	24 August 1976 18:32	Soyuz 21	49.27
—	Vyacheslav Zudov Valery Rozhdestvensky	14 October 1976 17:39	Soyuz 23	16 October 1976 17:45	Soyuz 23	2.00	Failed to dock
—	Viktor Gorbatko Yury Glazkov	7 February 1977 16:11	Soyuz 24	25 February 1977 09:38	Soyuz 24	17.73

Russian third successfull space station - Salyut4

Salyut 4 (DOS-4) (Russian: Салют-4; English: Salute 4) was launched on 26 December 1974. It was essentially a copy of DOS-3, and unlike its ill-fated sibling, it was a complete success. Two crews made stays aboard Salyut 4 (Soyuz 17 and Soyuz 18), including one of 63 days duration, and an unmanned Soyuz capsule (Soyuz 20) remained docked to the station for three months, proving the system's long-term durability. Salyut 4 was deorbited on 2 February 1977, and re-entered the Earth's atmosphere the next day.

Expedition	Crew	Launch (GMT)	Flight up	Landing (GMT)	Flight down	Duration (days)	Remarks
—	Aleksei Gubarev Georgi Grechko	11 January 1975 21:43	Soyuz 17	10 February 1975 11:03	Soyuz 17	29.56
—	Vasily Lazarev Oleg Makarov	5 April 1975 11:04	Soyuz 7K-T #39	5 April 1975 11:26	Soyuz 7K-T #39	0.02	Failed to orbit
—	Pyotr Klimuk Vitali Sevastyanov	24 May 1975 14:58	Soyuz 18	26 July 1975 14:18	Soyuz 18	62.97

RUSSIAN second successfull space station - Salyut 3

Salyut 3 (OPS-2) (Russian: Салют-3; English: Salute 3) was launched on 25 June 1974. Like Salyut 2, it was another Almaz military space station, although unlike its predecessor, it was launched successfully. It was used to test a wide variety of reconnaissance sensors, returning a canister of film for analysis. On 24 January 1975, after the station had been ordered to deorbit, trials of the on-board 23 mm Nudelman aircraft cannon (other sources^[who?] say it was a Nudelman NR-30 30 mm gun) were conducted with positive results at ranges from 3000 m to 500 m.^[6] Cosmonauts have confirmed that a target satellite was destroyed in the test.^{[citation needed]} The next day, the station was ordered to deorbit. Only one of the three intended crews successfully boarded and crewed the station, brought by Soyuz 14; Soyuz 15 attempted to bring a second crew but failed to dock. Nevertheless, it was an overall success. The station's orbit decayed, and it re-entered the atmosphere on 24 January 1975.

Expedition	Crew	Launch (GMT)	Flight up	Landing (GMT)	Flight down	Duration (days)	Remarks
—	Pavel Popovich Yuri Artyukhin	3 July 1974 18:51	Soyuz 14	19 July 1974 12:21	Soyuz 14	15.73
—	Gennadi Sarafanov Lev Dyomin	26 August 1974 19:58	Soyuz 15	28 August 1974 20:10	Soyuz 15	2.01	Failed to dock

SKY LAB UNITED STATE first space satation 1973-1979

Skylab was a space station launched and operated by NASA and was the United States' first space station. Skylab orbited the Earth from 1973 to 1979, and included a workshop, a solar observatory, and other systems. It was launched unmanned by a modified Saturn V rocket, with a weight of 169,950 pounds (77 t).^[1] Three manned missions to the station, conducted between 1973 and 1974 using the Apollo Command/Service Module (CSM) atop the smaller Saturn IB, each delivered a three-astronaut crew. On the last two manned missions, an additional Apollo / Saturn IB stood by ready to rescue the crew in orbit if it was needed.
The station was damaged during launch when the micrometeoroid shield separated from the workshop and tore away, taking one of two main solar panel arrays with it and jamming the other one so that it could not deploy. This deprived Skylab of most of its electrical power, and also removed protection from intense solar heating, threatening to make it unusable. The first crew was able to save it in the first in-space major repair, by deploying a replacement heat shade and freeing the jammed solar panels.
Skylab included the Apollo Telescope Mount, which was a multi-spectral solar observatory, Multiple Docking Adapter (with two docking ports), Airlock Module with EVA hatches, and the Orbital Workshop, the main habitable volume. Electrical power came from solar arrays, as well as fuel cells in the docked Apollo CSM. The rear of the station included a large waste tank, propellant tanks for maneuvering jets, and a heat radiator.
Numerous scientific experiments were conducted aboard Skylab during its operational life, and crews were able to confirm the existence of coronal holes in the Sun. The Earth Resources Experiment Package (EREP) was used to view the Earth with sensors that recorded data in the visible, infrared, and microwave spectral regions. Thousands of photographs of Earth were taken, and records for human time spent in orbit were extended. Plans were made to refurbish and reuse Skylab, using the Space Shuttle to boost its orbit and repair it. However, development of the Shuttle was delayed, and Skylab reentered Earth's atmosphere and disintegrated in 1979, with debris striking portions of Western Australia. Post-Skylab NASA space laboratory projects included Spacelab, Shuttle-Mir, and Space Station Freedom (later merged into the International Space Station).

RUSSIAN Soyuz missions 1973–1980

Order	Patch	Mission	Launch	Duration	Landing	Crew		Notes
11		Soyuz 12	27 September 1973	1 d 23 h 15 m 32 s	29 September 1973	V. Lazarev	O. Makarov	Test of redesigned two-person Soyuz craft.
12		Soyuz 13	18 December 1973	7 d 20 h 55 m 35 s	26 December 1973	V. Lebedev	P. Klimuk	Carried Orion 2 Space Observatory.
13		Soyuz 14	3 July 1974	15 d 17 h 30 m 28 s	19 July 1974	Yu. Artyukhin	P. Popovich	Visited Salyut 3.
14		Soyuz 15	26 August 1974	2 d 0 h 12 m 11 s	28 August 1974	L. Dyomin	G. Sarafanov	Failed to dock with Salyut 3.
15		Soyuz 16	2 December 1974	5 d 22 h 23 m 35 s	8 December 1974	A. Filipchenko	N. Rukavishnikov	Test of redesigned Soyuz craft.
16		Soyuz 17	11 January 1975	29 d 13 h 19 m 45 s	10 February 1975	G. Grechko	A. Gubarev	Visited Salyut 4 (1).
17		Soyuz 18a	5 April 1975	0 d 0 h 21 m 27 s	5 April 1975	V. Lazarev	O. Makarov	Launch failure, did not reach Salyut 4.
18		Soyuz 18	24 May 1975	62 d 23 h 20 m 8 s	26 July 1975	P. Klimuk	V. Sevastyanov	Visited Salyut 4 (2).
19		Soyuz 19	15 July 1975	5 d 22 h 31 m	21 July 1975	A. Leonov	V. Kubasov	Part of the Soyuz-Apollo Test Project.
20		Soyuz 21	6 July 1976	49 d 6 h 23 m 32 s	24 August 1976	B. Volynov	V. Zholobov	Visited Salyut 5 (1), departed early.
21		Soyuz 22	15 September 1976	7 d 21 h 52 m 17 s	23 September 1976	V. Bykovsky	V. Aksyonov	Earth imaging.
22		Soyuz 23	14 October 1976	2 d 0 h 6 m 35 s	16 October 1976	V. Zudov	V. Rozhdestvensky	Failed to dock with Salyut 5. Near-disastrous landing in icy lake.
23		Soyuz 24	7 February 1977	17 d 17 h 26 m 0 s	25 February 1977	V. Gorbatko	Yu. Glazkov	Visited Salyut 5 (2).
24		Soyuz 25	9 October 1977	2 d 0 h 44 m 45 s	11 October 1977	V. Kovalyonok	V. Ryumin	Failed to dock with Salyut 6.
25		Soyuz 26	10 December 1977	37 d 10 h 6 m 18 s	16 January 1978	G. Grechko launch V. Dzhanibekov landing	Yu. Romanenko launch O. Makarov landing	Visited Salyut 6 (1); returned with crew of Soyuz 27.
26		Soyuz 27	10 January 1978	64 d 22 h 52 m 47 s	16 March 1978	V. Dzhanibekov launch G. Grechko landing	O. Makarov launch Yu. Romanenko landing	Visited Salyut 6 (2); returned with crew of Soyuz 26.
27		Soyuz 28	2 March 1978	7 d 22 h 17 m 0 s	10 March 1978	A. Gubarev	V. Remek	Visited Salyut 6 (3).
28		Soyuz 29	15 June 1978	79 d 15 h 23 m 0 s	3 September 1978	V. Kovalyonok launch V. Bykovsky landing	A. Ivanchenkov launch S. Jähn landing	Visited Salyut 6 (4); returned with crew of Soyuz 31.
29		Soyuz 30	27 June 1978	7 d 22 h 2 m 59 s	5 July 1978	P. Klimuk	M. Hermaszewski	Visited Salyut 6 (5).
30		Soyuz 31	26 August 1978	67 d 20 h 12 m 47 s	2 November 1978	V. Bykovsky launch V. Kovalyonok landing	S. Jähn launch A. Ivanchenkov landing	Visited Salyut 6 (6); returned with crew of Soyuz 29.
31		Soyuz 32	25 February 1979	108 d 4 h 24 m 37 s	13 June 1979	V. Lyakhov launch	V. Ryumin launch	Visited Salyut 6 (7). Vehicle returned without crew.
32		Soyuz 33	10 April 1979	1 d 23 h 1 m 6 s	12 April 1979	N. Rukavishnikov	G. Ivanov	Failed to dock with Salyut 6.
33		Soyuz 34	6 June 1979	73 d 18 h 16 m 45 s	19 August 1979	V. Lyakhov landing	V. Ryumin landing	Launched unmanned to Salyut 6, returned with crew of Soyuz 32.
34		Soyuz 35	9 April 1980	55 d 1 h 28 m 1 s	3 June 1980	L. Popov launch V. Kubasov landing	V. Ryumin launch B. Farkas landing	Visited Salyut 6 (8); returned with crew of Soyuz 36.
35		Soyuz 36	26 May 1980	65 d 20 h 54 m 23 s	31 July 1980	V. Kubasov launch V. Gorbatko landing	B. Farkas launch T. Phạm landing	Visited Salyut 6 (9); returned crew of Soyuz 37.
36		Soyuz T-2	5 June 1980	3 d 22 h 19 m 30 s	9 June 1980	V. Aksyonov	Yu. Malyshev	Visited Salyut 6 (10); test of new model Soyuz spacecraft.
37		Soyuz 37	23 July 1980	79 d 15 h 16 m 54 s	11 October 1980	V. Gorbatko launch L. Popov landing	T. Phạm launch V. Ryumin landing	Visited Salyut 6 (11); returned crew of Soyuz 35.
38		Soyuz 38	18 September 1980	7 d 20 h 43 m 24 s	26 September 1980	Yu. Romanenko	A. Tamayo	Visited Salyut 6 (12).