Soyuz-U | Soyuz 31
Launch Successful
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Instantaneous launch window.
Launch Window
Aug. 26, 1978, 2:51 p.m. - Aug. 26, 1978, 2:51 p.m.
Instantaneous launch window.
Aug. 26, 1978, 2:51 p.m. - Aug. 26, 1978, 2:51 p.m.
Soyuz 31 was the sixth mission to visit the Salyut 6 space station and carried the the EP-4 crew, which visited the long-duration Soyuz 29 resident crew. The mission began on August 26, 1978, 14:51:30 UTC, launching Commander Valery Bukovsky and Research Cosmonaut/Flight Engineer Sigmund Jähn, the first German cosmonaut, into orbit. They docked with the station the next day. During their stay on the station, crew conducted various scientific experiments. Soyuz 31 crew swapped vehicles with the Soyuz 29 (EO-2 expedition) crew, which allowed for a longer stay in orbit for EO-2. The mission concluded with a safe landing back on Earth on September 3, 1978, 11:40:34 UTC.
Soyuz 31 was a Soyuz spacecraft which launched on 26 August 1978 14:51 UTC. It transported two cosmonauts of EP-4 to Salyut 6. The crew was Valery Bykovsky and Sigmund Jähn.
Soyuz Details
Date of
Birth: Aug. 2, 1934
Date of Death:
March 27, 2019
Date of
Birth: Feb. 13, 1937
Date of Death:
Sept. 21, 2019
The Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities, commonly known as Roscosmos, is the governmental body responsible for the space science program of the Russian Federation and general aerospace research. Soyuz has many launch locations the Russian sites are Baikonur, Plesetsk and Vostochny however Ariane also purchases the vehicle and launches it from French Guiana.
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