Soyuz T-6

Soyuz T-6 was a human spaceflight to Earth orbit to the Salyut 7 space station in 1982. Along with two Soviet cosmonauts, the crew included a Frenchman, Jean-Loup Chrétien.

The Soyuz-T spacecraft arrived at Salyut 7 following launch on 24 June 1982 and one day of solo operations. During the T-6 mission's time docked to the station, the crew performed joint Soviet-French experiments, including cardiovascular echography, alongside the station's resident crew.

Mission parameters

 * Mass: 6850 kg
 * Perigee: 189 km
 * Apogee: 233 km
 * Inclination: 51.7°
 * Period: 88.7 minutes

Mission highlights
Soyuz T-6 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 24 June 1982 at 16:29 GMT. Docking with the Salyut 7 station was completed manually after problems arose with the spacecraft's onboard automatic docking systems.

Once aboard Salyut 7, the crew completed joint Soviet-French, including echography and antibiotic experiments, with the station's resident crew, the crew of Soyuz T-5.

The mission transported the first French astronaut, Jean-Loup Chrétien, into space. While aboard the station, the resident crew afforded him the opportunity to eject Salyut 7's weekly bag of waste into space through the station's small trash airlock. Valentin Lebedev, writing in his diary, quoted Chrétien as saying Salyut 7 "is simple, doesn't look impressive, but is reliable."