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Soyuz 6 (russian: Союз 6, ''Union 6'') was part of a joint October, 1969, mission with
Soyuz 7 Soyuz 7 (russian: Союз 7, ''Union 7'') was part of an October, 1969, joint mission with Soyuz 6 and Soyuz 8 that saw three Soyuz spacecraft in orbit together at the same time, carrying a total of seven cosmonauts. The crew consisted of ...
and
Soyuz 8 Soyuz 8 (russian: Союз 8, ''Union 8'') was part of an October, 1969, joint mission with Soyuz 6 and Soyuz 7 that saw three Soyuz spacecraft in orbit together at the same time, carrying a total of seven cosmonauts. The crew consisted of ...
that saw the three Soyuz spacecraft in orbit together at the same time, carrying a total of seven
cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
s. The crew of
Georgy Shonin Georgy Stepanovich Shonin (; 3 August 1935 – 7 April 1997; born in Rovenky, Luhansk Oblast, (now Ukraine) but grew up in Balta of Ukrainian SSR) was a Soviet cosmonaut, who flew on the Soyuz 6 space mission. Shonin was part of the original ...
and
Valeri Kubasov Valery Nikolaevich Kubasov (russian: Вале́рий Никола́евич Куба́сов; 7 January 1935 – 19 February 2014) was a Soviet/Russian cosmonaut who flew on two missions in the Soyuz programme as a flight engineer: Soyuz 6 and ...
were meant to take high-quality movie photography of the
Soyuz 7 Soyuz 7 (russian: Союз 7, ''Union 7'') was part of an October, 1969, joint mission with Soyuz 6 and Soyuz 8 that saw three Soyuz spacecraft in orbit together at the same time, carrying a total of seven cosmonauts. The crew consisted of ...
and
Soyuz 8 Soyuz 8 (russian: Союз 8, ''Union 8'') was part of an October, 1969, joint mission with Soyuz 6 and Soyuz 7 that saw three Soyuz spacecraft in orbit together at the same time, carrying a total of seven cosmonauts. The crew consisted of ...
docking, but the rendezvous systems on all three spacecraft failed. It is still not known exactly what the actual problem was, but it is often quoted as being a
helium Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...
pressurisation integrity test.M. Sharpe, ''Space: The Ultimate Frontier'' The version of
Soyuz 7K-OK Soyuz 7K-OK was the first generation of Soyuz spacecraft and was flown between 1967 and 1971. The 7K-OK was used for the first ferry flights to the Salyut space station program, beginning a long history of space station service that continu ...
spacecraft used for the missions carried a
torus In geometry, a torus (plural tori, colloquially donut or doughnut) is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in three-dimensional space about an axis that is coplanar with the circle. If the axis of revolution does not tou ...
-shaped docking electronics equipment housing surrounding the motor assembly on the back of the service module, which is thought to have been pressurised with helium to provide an inert environment for the electronics. It was then jettisoned after docking to lower the mass of the spacecraft for reentry. Due to unstable temperature, disparity between the frequencies of the transmitters and receivers, which were stabilised by special quartz resonators, occurred. The piezocrystals were supposed to be in thermostats at a strictly constant
temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measurement, measured with a thermometer. Thermometers are calibrated in various Conversion of units of temperature, temp ...
.B. Chertok, ''Rockets and People'', Vol. IV The crew was made up of Shonin and Kubasov, who carried out experiments in space welding. They tested three methods: using an electron beam, a low-pressure plasma arc and a consumable
electrode An electrode is an electrical conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit (e.g. a semiconductor, an electrolyte, a vacuum or air). Electrodes are essential parts of batteries that can consist of a variety of materials d ...
. While welding, Kubasov almost burned through the hull of the vehicle's Living Compartment, which in the absence of spacesuits could have resulted in a catastrophic situation. The apparatus was designed at the
Paton Institute of Electric Welding E. O. Paton Electric Welding Institute ( uk, Інститут електрозварювання ім.Є.О.Патона) is a welding research institution situated in Kyiv, Ukraine. It is named after its founder, Professor Evgeny Paton. The in ...
,
Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...
,
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
. The weld quality was said to be in no way inferior to that of Earth-based welds. After eighty orbits of the Earth, they landed on 16 October 1969, northwest of
Karaganda Karaganda or Qaraghandy ( kk, Қарағанды/Qarağandy, ; russian: Караганда, ) is the capital of Karaganda Region in the Republic of Kazakhstan. It is the fourth most populous city in Kazakhstan, behind Almaty (Alma-Ata), Astan ...
,
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
. The radio call sign of the spacecraft was , referring to the Greek hero ''
Antaeus Antaeus (; Ancient Greek: Ἀνταῖος ''Antaîos'', "opponent", derived from , ''antao'' – 'I face, I oppose'), known to the Berbers as Anti, was a figure in Berber and Greek mythology. He was famed for his defeat by Heracles as part ...
'', but at the time of the flight, however, it was also the name of the largest practicable aircraft, the Soviet
Antonov An-22 The Antonov An-22 "Antei" (, ''An-22 Antej''; English ''Antaeus'') (NATO reporting name "Cock") is a heavy military transport aircraft designed by the Antonov Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Powered by four turboprop engines each driving a pa ...
, made in
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
. But unlike the call signs of
Soyuz 7 Soyuz 7 (russian: Союз 7, ''Union 7'') was part of an October, 1969, joint mission with Soyuz 6 and Soyuz 8 that saw three Soyuz spacecraft in orbit together at the same time, carrying a total of seven cosmonauts. The crew consisted of ...
and
Soyuz 8 Soyuz 8 (russian: Союз 8, ''Union 8'') was part of an October, 1969, joint mission with Soyuz 6 and Soyuz 7 that saw three Soyuz spacecraft in orbit together at the same time, carrying a total of seven cosmonauts. The crew consisted of ...
, it was not the name of a squadron in Soviet military training, of uncertain role, for the one that begins with the letter 'a' is , meaning "active".


Crew


Backup crew


Reserve crew


Mission parameters

* Mass: * Perigee: * Apogee: * Inclination: 51.68° * Period: 88.67 minutes


Mission

The mission objectives included: * checkout and flight test of spaceborne systems and the modified structure of the Soyuz craft, * further improvement of the control, orientation, and orbital stabilisation systems and navigation aids, * debugging the piloting systems by orbital maneuvering of the spaceships in relation to one another, * testing of a system for control of the simultaneous flight of three spacecraft, * scientific observations and photographing of geological-geographical subjects and exploration of the
Earth's atmosphere The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing fo ...
, * studying circumterrestrial space, * conducting experiments of
engineering research Engineering research seeks improvements in theory and practice in fields such as (for example) high-speed computation, bioengineering, earthquake prediction, power systems, nanotechnology and construction. Major contributors to engineering rese ...
and
biomedical engineering Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic). BME is also traditionally logical sciences ...
importance.


Return

Stable two-way radio communications was maintained between the spaceships and the ground stations, and TV coverage was broadcast from the ships during flight. The most significant objective was testing alternate methods for welding using remote handling equipment in the high vacuum and weightless conditions of outer space. In Soyuz 6, the welding unit had the name Vulcan and was controlled remotely by electric cable. Of the three types of welding tried (low pressure compressed arc, electron beam, and arc with a consumable electrode), electron beam was the most successful. Soyuz 6 also performed group flight with Soyuz 7 and Soyuz 8, but it did not dock with either spacecraft.


References


External links


Astronautix


{{DEFAULTSORT:Soyuz 06 Crewed Soyuz missions Spacecraft launched in 1969 1969 in the Soviet Union Spacecraft which reentered in 1969