| Mission type | Astronomy |
|---|---|
| Operator | Soviet space program |
| COSPAR ID | 1973-103A |
| SATCATno. | 06982 |
| Mission duration | 7 days 20 hours 55 minutes 35 seconds |
| Orbits completed | 127 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Soyuz 7K-T No.2 |
| Spacecraft type | Soyuz 7K-T-AF |
| Manufacturer | Experimental Design Bureau (OKB-1) |
| Launch mass | 6570 kg[1] |
| Landing mass | 1200 kg |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 2 |
| Members | Pyotr Klimuk Valentin Lebedev |
| Callsign | Кавказ (Kavkaz - "Caucasus") |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 18 December 1973, 11:55:00 UTC |
| Rocket | Soyuz |
| Launch site | Baikonur,Site 1/5[2] |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | 26 December 1973, 08:50:35 UTC |
| Landing site | 200 km at the southwest ofKaraganda,Kazakhstan |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit[3] |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Perigee altitude | 225.0 km |
| Apogee altitude | 272.0 km |
| Inclination | 51.60° |
| Period | 89.20 minutes |
 Vimpel Diamond for entrainment patch  A post stamp depicting the crew | |
Soyuz 13 (Russian:Союз 13,Union 13) was a December, 1973, Soviet crewed space flight, the second test flight of the redesignedSoyuz 7K-T spacecraft that first flew asSoyuz 12. The spacecraft was specially modified to carry theOrion 2 Space Observatory. The flight, crewed byPyotr Klimuk andValentin Lebedev, was theSoviet Union's first dedicated science mission,[4] and was the first mission controlled by the newKaliningradMission Control Center.[5]
| Position | Cosmonaut | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander | Pyotr Klimuk First spaceflight | |
| Flight engineer | Valentin Lebedev First spaceflight | |
| Position | Cosmonaut | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander | Lev Vorobiyov | |
| Flight engineer | Valeri Yazdovsky | |
| Position | Cosmonaut | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander | Vladimir Kovalyonok | |
| Flight engineer | Yuri Ponomaryov | |
Launched 18 December 1973, the Soyuz 13 crew of Klimuk and Lebedev performed some of the experiments intended for the failedSalyut space stations from the previous year.[5] UnlikeSoyuz 12, the craft was equipped with solar panels to allow for an extended mission. Additionally, an orbital module was attached replacing unneeded docking equipment. This module included theOrion 2 Space Observatory (see below).[5]
The crew used amultispectral camera to measure the atmosphere and pollution.[5] They also tested the Oasis 2 closedecology system, and harvestedprotein, yielding 30 times the originalbiomass.Medical tests were also carried out, including experiments to measureblood flow to thebrain.[5]
The crew landed in a heavy snowstorm on 26 December 1973, but were recovered a few minutes later, some 200 km at southwest ofKaraganda,Kazakhstan.[5]
During its 8-day mission, Soyuz 13 was in orbit around the Earth at the same time as the U.S.Skylab 4 mission, which had been launched on 16 November, and which would remain in orbit until 8 February, marking the first time that both the United States and the Soviet Union had crewed missions operating simultaneously.[6]
TheOrion 2 Space Observatory, designed byGrigor Gurzadyan, was operated by crew member Lebedev.Ultraviolet spectrograms of thousands of stars to as faint as 13thmagnitude were obtained by a wide-anglemeniscus telescope of theCassegrain system, with an aperture diameter of 240 mm, an equivalent focal length of 1000 mm, and a 4-gradequartz prism objective. The dispersion of the spectrograph was 17, 28 and 55 nm/mm, at wavelengths of 200, 250 and 300 nm respectively. The first satellite Ultraviolet spectrogram of aplanetary nebula (IC 2149 inAuriga) was obtained, revealing lines ofaluminium andtitanium - elements not previously observed in objects of that type.Two-photon emission in that planetary nebula and a remarkablestar cluster in Auriga were also discovered. Additionally,comet Kohoutek was observed.[5]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.| Main topics |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Uncrewed missions are designated asKosmos instead ofSoyuz; exceptions are noted "(uncrewed)". The † sign designates failed missions.Italics designates cancelled missions. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
