Soyuz 13

Soyuz 13


Mission Statistics
Mission Name:	Soyuz 13
Call Sign:	Кавказ (Kavkaz - "Caucasus")
Number of Crew Members:	2
Launch:	December 18, 1973 11:55 UTC Baikonur LC1
Landing:	December 26, 1973 08:50 UTC 200km SW of Karaganda
Duration:	7 days, 20 hours, 55 minutes
Number of Orbits:	127

Soyuz 13 was a second test flight of the redesigned Soyuz capsule that first flew as Soyuz 12. This particular spacecraft was further specially modified to carry a large camera for astrophysical observations.

Using this instrument, cosmonauts Valentin Lebedev and Pyotr Klimuk carried out ultraviolet photography of stars and spectroscopic photography of the Earth.

Once again, the new Soyuz variant performed extremely well when on-board systems were tested.

Crew

Valentin Lebedev
Pyotr Klimuk

Mission Parameters

Mass: 6560 kg
Perigee: 188 km
Apogee: 247 km
Inclination: 51.6°
Period: 88.8 minutes

Previous Mission:
Soyuz 12

Soyuz programme

Next Mission:
Soyuz 14