Soyuz 12

Soyuz 12
Mission typeTest flight
OperatorSoviet space program
COSPAR ID1973-067A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.06836
Mission duration1 day 23 hours 15 minutes 32 seconds
Orbits completed31
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftSoyuz 7K-T No.1
Spacecraft typeSoyuz 7K-T
ManufacturerExperimental Design Bureau (OKB-1)
Launch mass6570 kg [1]
Landing mass1200 kg
Crew
Crew size2
MembersVasily Lazarev
Oleg Grigoryevich Makarov
CallsignУрал (Ural - "Ural")
Start of mission
Launch date27 September 1973,
12:18:16 UTC
RocketSoyuz
Launch siteBaikonur, Site 1/5[2]
End of mission
Landing date29 September 1973, 11:33:48 UTC
Landing site400 km at the southwest of Karaganda, Kazakhstan
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit[3]
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Perigee altitude194.0 km
Apogee altitude249.0 km
Inclination51.6°
Period88.6 minutes

Salyut program insignia

Soyuz 12 (Russian: Союз 12, Union 12) was a September, 1973, crewed test flight by the Soviet Union of the newly redesigned Soyuz 7K-T spacecraft that was intended to provide greater crew safety in the wake of the Soyuz 11 tragedy. The flight marked the return of the Soviets to crewed space operations after the 1971 accident. The crew capacity of the capsule had been decreased from three to two cosmonauts to allow for pressure suits to be worn during launch, re-entry and docking. It was the first time pressure suits were used for reentry since the Voskhod 2 flight.[4]

Cosmonauts Vasily Lazarev and Oleg Grigoryevich Makarov spent two days in space testing the new craft.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Display was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Baikonur LC1". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 15 April 2009. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Trajectory was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Newkirk, Dennis (1990). Almanac of Soviet Manned Space Flight. Houston, Texas: Gulf Publishing Company. ISBN 0-87201-848-2.