April 26
1984 EVA 6
World EVA 53 Russian EVA 10 Space Station EVA 18
Duration: 4:56 Spacecraft/mission: Salyut 7 PE-3 Crew: Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov, Oleg Atkov Spacewalkers: Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov Purpose: Repair Salyut 7 ODU
Salyut 6 EVA veteran Valeri Ryumin monitored Kizim and Solovyov from the TsUP as they performed their second ODU repair EVA, which was scheduled to last 4 hrs, 5 min. The EVA occurs in the early morning hours, Moscow time. Salyut 7's orbital geometry meant that radio relay ships in the Atlantic and Pacific permitted 20-50 min of communication between station and TsUP during each 90-min orbit. Kizim and Solovyov needed about 20 min to move from the Salyut 7 airlock to the worksite, where they set up a TV camera so the TsUP could watch their work. Kizim took up position on the ladder installed on the previous EVA, while Solovyov placed his boots in the foot restraints on the Progress 20 extension. They pulled aside thermal blankets and cut through the station's plastic skin to reach the oxidizer plumbing. The cosmonauts located and replaced a valve on a "shut-off part of the reserve line," but only after a nut locked by epoxy resin thwarted their efforts for 2 hr. The oxidizer system was then pressurized with nitrogen to check their work, revealing that the ODU still leaked. The cosmonauts asked for and received an extension to complete work on the reserve line; when the extension lapsed Ryumin had to order the cosmonauts back inside Salyut 7.
"Above the Planet: Salyut EVA Operations (Part Two)," Neville Kidger, Spaceflight, March 1989, pp. 140; Sovetskaya Latviya, April 28, 1984, p. 1 (translated in USSR Report: Space, JPRS- USP-84-006-L, July 20, 1984, p. 32); Gudok, April 27, 1984, p. 3 (translated in USSR Report: Space, JPRS-USP-84-006-L, July 20, 1984, p. 33); Kosomolskaya Pravda, April 27, 1984, p. 4 (translated in USSR Report: Space, JPRS-USP84-006-L, July 20, 1984, p. 34).
April 29
1984 EVA 7
World EVA 54 Russian EVA 11 Space Station EVA 19
Duration: 2:45 Spacecraft/mission: Salyut 7 PE-3 Crew: Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov, Oleg Atkov Spacewalkers: Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov Purpose: Repair Salyut 7 ODU
Kizim and Solovyov lobbied for a third April EVA and, after some debate on the ground, were granted permission to attempt to complete the ODU repair. With this EVA Kizim and Solovyov became the first Soviet spacewalkers to conduct three EVAs in one flight, an honor first enjoyed in 1966 by U.S. astronaut Edwin Aldrin on Gemini 12. Atkov monitored crew status from inside Salyut 7. The cosmonauts finished work on the line they repaired during their second EVA, then installed a bypass line between two fill tubes, creating a new conduit to the main oxidizer supply. After they completed their work, nitrogen was again pumped through the system to check its integrity. To the dismay of all, the ODU plumbing still leaked. Kizim and Solovyov replaced the thermal blankets and returned inside while troubleshooters on the ground resumed efforts to localize the leak.
"Above the Planet: Salyut EVA Operations (Part Two)," Neville Kidger, Spaceflight, March 1989, pp. 140; Moskovskaya Pravda, April 30, 1984, p. 3 (translated in USSR Report: Space, JPRS-USP-84-006-L, July 20, 1984, p. 35).
May 4
1984 EVA 8
World EVA 55 Russian EVA 12 Space Station EVA 20
Duration: 2:45 Spacecraft/mission: Salyut 7 PE-3 Crew: Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov, Oleg Atkov Spacewalkers: Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov Purpose: Repair Salyut 7 ODU
The fourth Salyut 7 PE-3 EVA occurred on the cosmonauts' 85th day in space. According to Solovyov, by this time they were adept at moving over Salyut 7's hull. The cosmonauts removed the thermal blankets again and installed a second conduit in the Salyut 7 oxidizer system. Atkov and controllers in the TsUP were then able at last to pin down the precise location of the ruptured pipe. Kizim and Solovyov were dismayed to learn that they lacked tools adequate to complete the repair. They replaced the thermal blankets and rejoined Atkov inside Salyut 7, their efforts again thwarted. Progress 20 undocked on May 6, taking the special extension and foot restraints with it. The cargo ship reentered Earth's atmosphere and burned up on May 7.
"Above the Planet: Salyut EVA Operations (Part Two)," Neville Kidger, Spaceflight, March 1989, pp. 140; Izvestiya, May 5, 1984, p. 2 (translated in USSR Report: Space, JPRS-USP-84-006-L, July 20, 1984, p. 37); "Salyut 7: Third Expedition to the Station," S.A. Bovin, Zemlya i Vselennaya, March-April 1985, pp. 9-15 (translated in USSR Report: Space, JPRS-USP-86-001, January 13, 1986, pp. 57-58).
May 19
1984 EVA 9
World EVA 56 Russian EVA 13 Space Station EVA 21
Duration: 3:05 Spacecraft/mission: Salyut 7 PE-3 Crew: Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov, Oleg Atkov Spacewalkers: Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov Purpose: Augment Salyut 7 solar array
Salyut 7 had three solar arrays at launch, all of which were scheduled to be augmented over the period of the station's occupancy. Augmenting the center (top) array required two EVAs in November 1983. The Progress 21 automated freighter delivered extensions for the port array on May 10. During this period Progress flights were frequent to make up for air spilled into space from the transfer compartment during EVAs, and because of the added logistics requirements of having three crew members on board Salyut 7. Adding the port array extensions required only one EVA, demonstrating the benefits of EVA experience (this was Kizim and Solovyov's fifth EVA) and of applying lessons learned from the November EVAs, during which Kizim and Solovyov performed neutral buoyancy simulations of the array installation in the Star City Hydrolaboratory. The new panels contained cells made of gallium arsenide that were more efficient at producing electricity than the silicon cells launched with Salyut 7. Kizim and Solovyov left the airlock toting tools and the two solar array extensions, each in a separate container. They discarded the containers after removing the panels, taking "care... to cast them into a different orbit, to prevent the station from encountering them in the future." From foot restraints Solovyov and Kizim assembled each 4.56-sq-m (49-sq-ft) extension, then attached the first and winched it into position. Atkov used controls inside Salyut 7 to turn the port array 180 deg so it presented its other side to the cosmonauts, who then attached and winched into place the second add-on panel. Solovyov struggled to tie two knots in wire bundles linking the arrays to the station's main external power panel, a task he later compared to "trying to thread a needle in boxing gloves." Their work added 1.2kW to Salyut 7's power supply. With this EVA, their fifth together, Kizim and Solovyov tied David Scott's record for total career EVAs.
Pravda, May 20, 1984, p. 1 (translated in USSR Report: Space, JPRS-USP-84-006-L, July 20, 1984, p. 44); "Above the Planet: Salyut EVA Operations (Part Two)," Neville Kidger, Spaceflight, March 1989, pp. 140; Trud, May 20, 1984, p. 3 (translated in USSR Report: Space, JPRS-USP-84-005, October 26, 1984, p. 3); Pravda, June 3, 1984, p. 3 (abstracted in USSR Report: Space, JPRS-USP-84-005, October 26, 1984, p. 9).
July 17
Salyut 7/Soyuz-T 12 VE-4 launch
July 25
1984 EVA 10
World EVA 57 Russian EVA 14 Space Station EVA 22
Duration: 3:35 Spacecraft/mission: Salyut 7 VE-4 Crew: Vladimir Dzhanibekov, Svetlana Savitskaya, Igor Volk (VE-4); Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov, Oleg Atkov (PE-3) Spacewalkers: Svetlana Savitskaya, Vladimir Dzhanibekov Purpose: Perform first EVA by a woman; test the URI electron beam tool
For this first EVA by a woman, Savitskaya donned an Orlan-D suit already worn eight times by cosmonauts on Salyut 7. With Dzhanibekov, she was tasked with testing the Universalny Rabochy (or Ruchnoj) Instrument ("Universal Hand Tool") (URI) multipurpose electron beam cutting, welding, soldering, and brazing tool. Savitskaya played a central role in developing the handle and other cosmonaut interfaces of the tool. She trained with URI three times in a vacuum chamber and in a plane flying parabolas. Some engineers voiced reservations about flying URI - it generated a great deal of heat which might damage the cosmonauts' space suits. The experience of the Vulkan automated welding system 15 yr before loomed large in engineers' minds (the device ran amok aboard Soyuz 6 and nearly cut the table holding welding samples in half). On day 7 of VE-4, with Igor Volk inside Salyut 7 monitoring the EVA timeline, Dzhanibekov opened the Salyut 7 airlock. He unfolded and stood in a Yakor foot restraint, then set up a worksite lamp. Savitskaya handed out URI, which Dzhanibekov set up and attached to an external power outlet. He then traded places with Savitskaya, who set up a TV camera. Salyut 7 passed out of communications range with the TsUP; when contact was restored, Savitskaya began work with URI, first cutting a 0.5-mm- (0.02-in-) thick titanium sample. In all she performed six cutting, two silver spray coating, and six soldering experiments, taking care always not to point URI at Salyut 7 lest the tool run amok. Her heart rate peaked during the EVA at 140 beats/min. While soldering the Sun glared in her face, making it difficult for her to see her work; nevertheless, her results were later judged satisfactory. Savitskaya and Dzhanibekov then traded places again so he could test URI. Dzhanibekov said later that "the tool is very handy and I'm sure we'll be using it a lot." After finishing, he took down URI and handed the device and experiment samples to Savitskaya. Dzhanibekov then removed Ekpozitsiya cassettes from the station's exterior and handed them to Savitskaya, who handed back a Meduza bio-polymer cassette for installation. Products of the welding experiment returned to Earth in Soyuz T-12. Kosomolskaya Pravda reported on the EVA, saying that: "The world's first egress into open space by a woman cosmonaut has been made by Svetlana Savitskaya. Her successful performance of unique experiments in conditions of outer space demonstrated that it is possible for a woman to function effectively while performing complex work not only on board a manned orbiting complex but also in open space." In January 1985, Boris Paton referred to Savitskaya's experiments, saying that "the time when robots will be serving as welders in outer space is not too distant."
July 16
1987
February 5
Mir/Soyuz-TM 2 PE-2 launch
April 11
1987 EVA 1
World EVA 70 Russian EVA 19 Space Station EVA 27
Duration: 3:35 Spacecraft/mission: Mir PE-2 Crew: Yuri Romanenko, Alexander Laveikin Spacewalkers: Yuri Romanenko, Alexander Laveikin Purpose: Contingency EVA to investigate cause of Kvant module hard docking difficulties
The first Mir space station EVA - only the 19th of the Soviet space program - was a contingency spacewalk to permit Kvant, the station's first expansion module, to complete docking. One of its participants, Yuri Romanenko, took part in the first Soviet space station EVA aboard Salyut 6 in 1977, which also involved a docking unit inspection. Kvant arrived at the Mir core module's aft port early on April 10 attached to a Functional Service Module (FSM) space tug. It achieved soft dock, but full retraction of the Kvant probe proved impossible, and the docking collars remained separated by a few centimeters. The cosmonauts observed Kvant from Mir's aft compartment viewports, but were unable to detect anything out of the ordinary. The Kvant-FSM combination was left with its probe latched in the aft port's Konus drogue unit while controllers in the TsUP investigated the problem. Attitude control maneuvers were suspended because Kvant might pivot in the Konus drogue, banging together the docking collars. A contingency EVA was quickly authorized, and the cosmonauts spent April 11 making preparations. Just before midnight Moscow time on this date, Romanenko and Laveikin left one of the four berthing ports in the forward transfer compartment and moved 13 m (43 ft) along Mir's hull to the aft port. Cosmonauts in the Hydrolaboratory in Star City carried out the procedure simultaneously. Flight Engineer Laveikin's Orlan-DM space suit registered a minor pressure drop, causing momentary concern, but the problem was quickly traced to an incorrect switch setting. Flight controllers extended the docking probe to permit the cosmonauts to examine the docking unit. They discovered an "extraneous white object" jammed between the two spacecraft. This was later identified as a twisted piece of cloth, possibly trash escaped from Progress 28, which had undocked from the aft port on March 26. With difficulty Laveikin freed and discarded the object early in the morning on April 12, the Cosmonautics Day holiday in the Soviet Union. The cosmonauts waited nearby while the TsUP commanded the Kvant probe to retract, completing hard dock, then returned inside an expanded Mir station.