Soyuz T-9

Infobox Space mission
mission_name = Soyuz T-9
insignia = Cosmos 1443-Salyut 7-Soyuz T-9 Patch.gif
sign = Proton
crew_members = 2
launch = June 27, 1983
09:12:00 UTC
Gagarin's Start
landing = November 23, 1983
19:58:00 UTC
160 km E of Dzhezkazgan
duration = 149d/10:45:00
orbits = 2361
next = Soyuz T-10-1
previous = Soyuz T-8 |

Crew

Number in parentheses indicates number of spaceflights by each individual prior to and including this mission.
*Vladimir Lyakhov (2) - Commander
*Aleksandr Pavlovich Aleksandrov (1) - Flight Engineer

Backup crew

*Vladimir Titov - Commander
*Gennady Strekalov - Flight Engineer

Mission parameters

*Mass: 6850 kg
*Perigee: 201 km
*Apogee: 229 km
*Inclination: 51.6°
*Period: 88.6 minutes

Mission highlights

4th expedition to Salyut 7. Its mission was heavily impacted by the Soyuz T-8 and Soyuz T-10a Soyuz booster failures which bracketed it.

Almost immediately after docking at Salyut 7’s aft port, the crew entered Cosmos 1443 and commenced transferring the 3.5 tons of cargo lining its walls to Salyut 7.

Window impact: On July 27 a small object struck a Salyut 7 viewport. It blasted out a 4-mm crater, but did not penetrate the outer of the window’s two panes. The Soviets believed it was a member of the Delta Aquarid meteor shower, though it may have been a small piece of orbital debris.

The crew loaded Cosmos 1443’s Merkur capsule with 350 kg of experiment results and hardware no longer in use. It could have held 500 kg, had they had that much to put in. Cosmos 1443 then undocked, in spite of Western predictions that the FGB component would remain attached to Salyut 7 as a space station module. The Merkur capsule soft-landed on August 23, and the FGB component continued in orbit until it was deorbited over the Pacific Ocean on September 19.