The Salyut Russian Space Program

The Soviet Union's first space station program was known as the Salyut, which involved nine single module stations launched between 1971 and 1982.
 
In 1971, two years before the United States orbited its first space station, the Soviet Union orbited the first Russian space station and the first space station in history, the Salyut 1. The Salyut series played an important role in the later development of Space Station Mir and the International Space Station (ISS).

Salyut 1

As the first space station in the Russian space program, the Salyut 1 was about 65 feet long and 13 feet in diameter. The three cosmonauts that first attempted to board the Salyut 1 were:
  • Alexei Eliseev
  • Nikolai Rukavishnikov
  • Vladimir Shatalov.
They launched out of the republic of Kazakhstan on April 23, 1971, in the Soyuz 10 after the Salyut 1 space station had successfully entered orbit four days earlier. When the Soyuz 10 arrived at the station, the docking mechanism was damaged, and the hatch seemed to be jammed.
 
Consequently, while the Soyuz was docked to the Salyut for five hours, the crew was unable to transfer to the station. Although the crew had some difficultly detaching the Soyuz 10 from the station, they returned to Earth safely on April 25, 1971.

Soyuz 11

On June 6, 1971, the Soyuz 11 launched with:
  • Georgy Dobrovoslkiy
  • Victor Patsaev
  • Vladimir Volkov.

The Soyuz 11 was able to successfully dock to the Salyut 1, and the cosmonauts transferred to the space station.

After 23 successful days in orbit on the space station, the Soyuz 11 headed started heading back to Earth. However, tragedy struck as the Soyuz reentered the atmosphere when a faulty pressure valve opened too soon. The three cosmonauts were not wearing pressure suits and died of decompression, probably before they even knew what happened.

The Salyut 1 space station came to an end on Oct. 11, 1971 when it was lowered from orbit and discarded into the Pacific Ocean.

The DOS-2

On July 29, 1972, the Soviet Union launched another orbital station, the DOS-2. The DOS-2 was similar to the Salyut 1 but crashed in the Pacific Ocean, never making it into orbit.

Salyut 2

The Salyut 2, launched on April 4, 1973, was a prototype military OPS (orbital piloted station) space station that was given the name Salyut to confuse westerners as to the nature of the Russian space program.
 
No aircraft or cosmonauts were able to visit the Salyut 2 because it began losing pressure a few days after entering orbit, possibly due to shrapnel damage from the launch rocket exploding. The Salyut 2 lost all of its power 11 days after launching and reentered the atmosphere on May 28, 1973.

The Cosmos 557

Just a few days before the launch of the United States' Skylab space station, the Soviets launched the Cosmos 557. Although it was a Salyut-type space station, the Soviets called it the Cosmos 557 to confuse westerners again. Errors in the flight control system caused the Cosmos to consume all of its fuel. After about a week in orbit, the Cosmos reentered the Earth's atmosphere and burned up.

Salyut 3

The Salyut 3, like the Salyut 2, was another military OPS space station. Two spacecraft missions visited the Salyut 3, which was launched on June 25, 1974:
  • The Soyuz 14, launched July 3, 1974, transported two cosmonauts, Yuri Artyukhin and Pavel Popovich, to the Salyut 3 with the goal of investigating the possible military use of humans in space. Artyukhin and Popovich returned to Earth safely July 19, 1974.

  • The Soyuz 15, launched on August 26, 1974, was the Soviet Union's second mission to the Salyut 3. A malfunction on the automated docking system prevented the crew, Lev Demin and Gennadi Sarafanov, from going aboard the Salyut 3 space station. The Soyuz 15 returned to Earth safely on August 28, 1974.

Salyut 4

The Salyut 4 was a successful station in the Russian space program series. The Salyut 4 entered orbit on Dec. 26, 1974. Over the course of several years, three crews visited the station:
  • Soyuz 17
  • Soyuz 18
  • Soyuz 21.
The two cosmonauts on Soyuz 18 stayed at the space station for 62 days.

Salyut 5

The Salyut 5 was the final military type space station launched in the Salyut space station program. Launched June 22, 1976, the Salyut 5 stayed in orbit for 412 days. Two expeditions visited the Salyut 5. The Soyuz 21 stayed for 49 days, and the Soyuz 24 stayed in orbit for 17 days. The Salyut 5 reentered the atmosphere on Aug. 8, 1977.

Salyut 6

The Salyut 6, launched Sept. 29, 1977, was a new "second generation" type of space station. Unlike its Salyut predecessors, the Salyut 6 had two docking stations, allowing crews to receive visitors. The Salyut 6 received 16 different crews, including one expedition lasting 186 days.
 
The Salyut 6 also received Vladimir Remck of Czechoslovakia, the first space traveler not from the United States or the Soviet Union. The Salyut 6 reentered the Earth's atmosphere on July 29, 1977.

Salyut 7

The final Salyut station in the Russian space program, actually a backup to the Salyut 6, was launched on April 19, 1982. It was visited by 10 crews, including French and Indian cosmonauts. The Salyut 7 de-orbited on February 7, 1991.
 
Resources
 
Space (2007). Soviet's Space Station Paved Way for Mir. Retrieved February 7, 2008, from the Imaginova Corp Web site.
 
World Almanac (n.d.). Space Station. Retrieved February 7, 2008, from the World Almanac for Kids Web site.