ROD%SU-AI@sri-unix.UUCP (11/24/83)
From: Rod Brooks <ROD@SU-AI>
a035 0115 24 Nov 83
PM-Cosmonauts,450
Laserphoto NY58
MOSCOW (AP) - The Soviet Union said today the 150-day space mission
by two cosmonauts has opened new prospects for long term missions
aboard orbiting space stations.
The official news agency Tass said cosmonauts Vladimir Lyakhov and
Alexander Alexandrov, aboard their Soyuz T-9, made a soft landing
Wednesday night in Soviet Central Asia and were ''feeling well.''
The site was reported to be about 100 miles east of Dzhezkazgan, a
city in the republic of Kazakhstan where most soft landings are made.
Alexandrov received the title of Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Soviet
Union, Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin and Gold Star
medal. It was his first space mission.
Lyakhov, the mission commander, was also given the Order of Lenin
and his second Gold Star medal. In 1979, Lyakhov and another cosmonaut
completed a then-record space flight of 175 days.
Tass said the cosmonauts carried out technical, medical and
biological studies and experiments. It said there were two space walks
totaling 5 hours and 45 minutes, during which solar batteries were
installed on the orbiting Salyut 7 space lab.
''That unique experiment is opening up fresh prospects for the
development of manned orbital complexes intended for prolonged service
and for raising their efficiency,'' said Tass.
Longterm manned orbiting space complexes, which could be used as
docking stations for space craft, are a main goal of the Soviet space
program.
''A significant quantity of technical experiments was carried out to
practice the methods of guiding orbital complexes,'' Tass said. ''New
instruments and equipment for future space vehicles were tested.''
Tass said experiments also focused on growing crystals and plants
and ''pure protein preparation.''
The cosmonauts, both 42, began their mission June 27 and docked with
the orbiting Salyut 7 space station the next day.
Western intelligence sources have said the Soyuz T-9 that carried
the cosmonauts was approaching a time when their return aboard it
would be risky. The intelligence sources cited weakening batteries and
fuel evaporation as the major problems.
In September, according to Soviet sources, a launching pad explosion
aborted another Soyuz mission that presumably would have docked with
the Salyut 7.
According to past Soviet space practices, the three cosmonauts whose
mission was aborted would have returned to earth in the Soyuz T-9
used by Alexandrov and Lyakhov. The more recently arrived space ship
would have been used later for the pair's return.
The Soyuz T-9 docking with the Salyut was the second attempted this
year. On April 21, three Soviet cosmonauts were returned to earth
after an unsuccessful docking attempt.
ap-ny-11-24 0413EST
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