Soyuz 7K-T No.39

Soyuz 7K-T No.39
NamesSoyuz 18a, Soyuz 18-1,
April 5th Anomaly
Mission typeDocking with Salyut 4
OperatorSoviet space program
Mission duration21 minutes 27 seconds
60 days (planned)
Orbits completedFailed to orbit
Apogee192.0 km (sub-orbital spaceflight)
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftSoyuz 7K-T No.6
Spacecraft typeSoyuz 7K-T
ManufacturerOKB-1
Launch mass6830 kg
Landing mass1200 kg
Crew
Crew size2
MembersVasily Lazarev
Oleg Makarov
CallsignУрал (Ural – "Ural")
Start of mission
Launch date5 April 1975, 11:04:54 UTC
RocketSoyuz
Launch siteBaikonur, Site 1/5[1]
End of mission
Landing date5 April 1975, 11:26:21 UTC
Landing siteAltai Mountains, Kazakhstan (official)
50°50′N 83°25′E / 50.833°N 83.417°E / 50.833; 83.417
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit (planned)
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Altitude192.0 km
Inclination51.6°
Period90.0 minutes
Docking with Salyut 4 (planned)

Salyut program insignia

Soyuz 7K-T No.39 (also named Soyuz 18a or Soyuz 18-1 by some sources and also known as the April 5 Anomaly)[2]: 192–3  was an unsuccessful launch of a crewed Soyuz spacecraft by the Soviet Union in 1975. The mission was expected to dock with the orbiting Salyut 4 space station, but due to a failure of the Soyuz launch vehicle the crew failed to make orbit. The crew consisted of commander Vasily Lazarev, and flight engineer Oleg Makarov, a civilian. Although the mission was aborted and did not accomplish its objective, the craft exceeded common space boundaries and therefore is recognized as a sub-orbital spaceflight, which the crew survived. The crew, who initially feared they had landed in China, were successfully recovered.[3][4]

The accident was partly disclosed by the normally secretive Soviets as it occurred during preparations for their joint Apollo-Soyuz Test Project with the United States which flew three months later. Lazarev never flew to space again and never fully recovered from the accident; Makarov made two more flights on board a Soyuz (both of which were to the Salyut 6 space station).

  1. ^ Mark Wade. "Baikonur LC1". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference hall was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Newkirk, Dennis (1990). Almanac of Soviet Manned Space Flight. Houston, Texas: Gulf Publishing Company. ISBN 0-87201-848-2.
  4. ^ Clark, Phillip (1988). The Soviet Manned Space Program. New York: Orion Books, a division of Crown Publishers, Inc. ISBN 0-517-56954-X.