Soyuz 17

Mission highlights

Soyuz 17 carried cosmonauts Georgi Grechko and Aleksei Gubarev to the Salyut 4 space station for a month-long stay. Upon entering the new station, they found a humorous note from its builders, telling them to "Wipe your feet!"

Related Topics:
Soyuz - Georgi Grechko - Aleksei Gubarev - Salyut 4 - Space station

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When Soyuz 17 docked, Salyut 4 was in an unusually high circular orbit at 350

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

km. Astrophysics was a major component of their mission (hence the high

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

altitude). The crew discovered that the main mirror of the solar telescope had

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

been ruined by direct exposure to sunlight when the pointing system failed.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

They resurfaced the mirror and worked out a way of pointing the telescope

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

using a stethoscope, stopwatch, and the noises the moving mirror made in its

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

casing.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Experiments carried out on board the station were mostly of an astronomical nature, with observations of the Sun, the Earth, and the planets.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~