Soyuz 17

Crew

Georgi Grechko (1)
Aleksei Gubarev (1)

Mission parameters

Mass: 6800 kg
Perigee: 185 km
Apogee: 249 km
Inclination: 51.6°
Period: 88.8 min

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!"

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.

Preceded by:
Soyuz 16 Soyuz programme Followed by:
Soyuz 18a

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