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Soyuz-T 15 • Mir | March 15-21, 1986 | |
| Unusual docking procedure. The Soviets intended to dock Soyuz-T 15 with Mir’s forward port, leaving the aft port free for arriving Progress spacecraft. However, Soyuz-T 15, like its Soyuz-T precursors, was equipped with the Igla approach system, not the Kurs system used on Mir’s front port. Soyuz-T 15 approached Mir from behind. At 20 km Soyuz-T 15’s Igla system acquired its counterpart on Mir’s aft port. At 200 m the Igla system was shut off, and the Mayaks manually maneuvered around the station to dock at the front port. They used the same laser range finder used by Soyuz-T 13 to dock with the uncooperative Salyut 7 station in 1985.[1] | |||
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Soyuz-T 15 • Mir • Progress 25 | March 21-April 20, 1986 | |
| Altair/SR tests. First tests of the Soviet data and voice relay system, the Altair/SR system, were conducted on March 29 using Mir’s large aft antenna and the geosynchronous (95° E) Cosmos 1700 satellite.
Rezonans tests. The Mayaks conducted Rezonans tests of the Soyuz-T 15-Mir base block-Progress 25 complex on March 31. | |||
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Soyuz-T 15 • Mir | April 20-26, 1986 | |
| More Rezonans tests. The Mayaks subjected the Mir base block-Soyuz-T 15 assemblage to further Rezonans tests. They also for the first time placed Mir in gravity gradient stabilization mode, with its long axis pointed toward the center of the Earth, and tested the station’s atmosphere. | |||
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Soyuz-T 15 • Mir • Progress 26 | April 26-May 5, 1986 | |
| Getting ready for the transfer to Salyut 7. The Mayaks loaded Soyuz-T 15 with their personal belongings, plants grown on Mir, and other items in preparation for the trip to Salyut 7, which was about 4000 km ahead of Mir in a lower orbit. On May 4 Mir was lowered by 13 km to speed the approach to Salyut 7 and conserve Soyuz-T 15’s limited fuel supply for the transfer. | |||
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Mir • Progress 26 | May 5-23, 1986 | |
| Soyuz-T 15 transfers to Salyut 7. Soyuz-T 15 separated from Mir when Salyut 7 was 2500 km away. The crossing required 29 hr. | |||
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Soyuz-TM 1 • Mir • Progress 26 | May 23-29, 1986 | |
| Mir’s Soyuz tested. Just as Soyuz-T represented a Soyuz upgrade for Salyut 7, Soyuz-TM represented an upgrade for Mir. Soyuz-TM 1 arrived unmanned at the unoccupied station and remained for 9 days. | |||
- ↑ Nicholas Johnson, The Soviet Year in Space: 1986, Teledyne Brown Engineering, 1987, pp. 57-58.
