Soyuz-U | Soyuz 26
Soviet Space Program · Soyuz U · 1/5, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
Soviet Space Program's 1,173rd launch · 93rd this year · humanity's 2,034th orbital launch attempt
The launch vehicle successfully inserted its payload(s) into the target orbit(s).
Window: Dec 10, 01:18 – Dec 10, 01:18 UTC
Flight preview
Soyuz 26
Soyuz 26 carried Salyut 6 EO-1, which was the first long-duration expedition to the Salyut 6 space station. The mission began on December 10, 1977, 01:18:40 UTC, launching Commander Yuri Romanenko and Flight Engineer Georgi Grechko into orbit. They docked with the station the next day. During their 96-day stay in orbit, crew performed the first Soviet spacewalk since 1969 with the purpose of inspecting one of the stations docking ports. They also performed Earth observation, carried out various experiments and tested new navigation system. EO-1 crew was visited by Soyuz 27 and Soyuz 28 crews; the first ever refueling of the station was performed by an uncrewed cargo ship Progress 1 during the mission. EO-1 crew swapped vehicles with the Soyuz 27 crew, which allowed for a longer stay in orbit. EO-1 crew returned in the Soyuz 27 spacecraft, landing safely back on Earth on March 16, 1978, 11:18:47 UTC.
Human Exploration · Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
Crew
Georgy GrechkoFlight Engineer · RFSA
Yury RomanenkoCommander · RFSA
Booster
No booster details available.
Watch
No webcast announced yet.
Pad — 1/5
Local pad time: Dec 10, 6:18 AM GMT+5
487 launches from this pad · 1,564 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
Open in maps