Soyuz 33

Operator| Soviet space program
COSPAR ID| 1979-029A
SATCAT no.| 11324
Mission duration| 1 day, 23 hours and 1 minute
Orbits completed| 31
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type| Soyuz 7K-T
Manufacturer| NPO Energia
Launch mass| 6,860 kg (15,120 lb)
Crew
Crew size| 2
Members| Nikolai Rukavishnikov
Georgi Ivanov
Callsign| Сатурн (Saturn) - "Saturn"
Start of mission
Launch date| April 10, 1979, 17:34:34 (1979-04-10UTC17:34:34Z) UTC
Rocket| Soyuz-U
Launch site| Baikonur 1/5
End of mission
Landing date| April 12, 1979, 16:35:40 (1979-04-12UTC16:35:41Z) UTC
Landing site| 320 km (200 mi) SE of Dzhezkazgan
Orbital parameters
Reference system| Geocentric[1]
Regime| Low Earth
Perigee altitude| 198.6 km (123.4 mi)
Apogee altitude| 279.2 km (173.5 mi)
Inclination| 51.61°

Soyuz programme

<- Soyuz 32

Soyuz 34 ->

Soyuz 33 (Russian: Союз 33, Union 33) was an April, 1979, Soviet crewed space flight to the Salyut 6 space station.[1] It was the ninth mission to the orbiting facility, but an engine failure forced the mission to be aborted, and the crew had to return to Earth before docking with the station. It was the first failure of a Soyuz engine during orbital operations.

Soyuz 33 descent module in Aviation museum Plovdiv

The two-man crew, commander Nikolai Rukavishnikov and Bulgarian cosmonaut Georgi Ivanov, suffered a steep ballistic re-entry, but were safely recovered. The original intention of the mission had been to visit the orbiting crew for about a week and leave a fresh vehicle for the station crew to return to Earth in. The mission failure meant that the orbiting Salyut 6 crew lacked a reliable return vehicle as their Soyuz had the same suspect engine as Soyuz 33. A subsequent crewed flight was canceled and a vacant craft (Soyuz 34) with a redesigned engine was sent for the crew to use.

Inside of Soyuz 33 descent module in Aviation museum Plovdiv

## Contents

* 1 Crew
* 2 Mission parameters
* 3 Mission highlights
* 4 References
* 5 External links

## Crew

Prime crew  Position | Cosmonaut

|

Commander  | Nikolai Rukavishnikov
Third and last spaceflight
Research cosmonaut  | Georgi Ivanov, Interkosmos
Only spaceflight
Backup crew  Position | Cosmonaut

|

Commander  | Yuri Romanenko
Research cosmonaut  | Aleksandar Aleksandrov, Interkosmos
Space and work suits of Georgi Ivanov in Aviation museum Plovdiv

## Mission parameters

* Mass: 6,860 kg (15,120 lb)
* Perigee: 198.6 km (123.4 mi)
* Apogee: 279.2 km (173.5 mi)
* Inclination: 51.63°
* Period: 88.99 minutes

## Mission highlights

After a two-day delay caused by a windstorm at the launch site, Soyuz 33 was launched 10 April 1979 with the fourth international crew in the Soviet Intercosmos program. Bulgarian cosmonaut Georgi Ivanov joined commander Nikolai Rukavishnikov as the craft proceeded normally towards the Salyut 6 space station.

Rukavishnikov was the first civilian to command a Soviet spacecraft, and Ivanov the first Bulgarian in space.[2]

At 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) distance from the station, the Igla automatic docking system was activated. But, as the craft approached to 1,000 meters (3,300 ft), the engine failed and automatically shut down after three seconds of a planned six-second burn. Rukavishnikov had to hold the instrument panel as the craft shook so violently. After consulting with ground control, the docking system was activated again, but the engine shut down again, and Valery Ryumin, observing from the station, reported an abnormal lateral glow from behind the Soyuz during the burn. Mission control accordingly aborted the mission and told the crew to prepare to return to Earth.[2] It was the first in-orbit failure of the Soyuz propulsion system.[3]

The failure was determined to be a malfunction of the main engine. A pressure sensor in the combustion chamber was shutting down the engine when it seemed normal combustion pressure was not being reached. This shut-down mechanism was designed to prevent propellants from being pumped into a damaged engine thus risking damage or an explosion.[2]

The crew requested another attempt at an engine burn, but were denied and told to sleep. A recovery attempt could not be made for another day.[3] Rukavishnikov could not sleep, however, and thought about the novel Marooned, which featured an American space crew stranded in orbit.[2][4]

It was only in 1983 that the Soviets revealed how serious the situation was.[3] The craft had a backup engine but it was feared that it may have been damaged by the main engine, potentially leaving the crew stranded with five days of supplies while it would take ten days for the orbit to decay. One option to return the crew if the backup engine was inoperable would have been to use attitude control thrusters to slow the Soyuz below orbit velocity, but it was not known if there was enough propellant to do this, and the landing point would have been unpredictable even if it had worked.[2] Another option was to move the station to the Soyuz. The station could have been moved to within 1,000 m of the craft, at which point Soyuz 33 could be docked using its thrusters, but the two craft were drifting apart at 28 metres per second (92 ft/s), and time was needed to calculate the maneuvers. In any event, four crew on the station with one malfunctioning Soyuz and a second Soyuz (the station crew's Soyuz 32, already docked at Salyut 6) with a now-questionable engine (it had the same type as Soyuz 33) was not considered the best option.[2]

The main option was to fire the backup engine, but this option was not guaranteed to work, even if the engine fired. The nominal burn time was 188 seconds, and as long as the burn lasted more than 90 seconds, the crew could manually restart the engine to compensate. But this would mean an inaccurate landing. If the burn was less than 90 seconds, the crew could be stranded in orbit. A burn longer than 188 seconds could result in excessive G-loads on the crew during reentry.[3]

In the end, the backup engine did fire, though for 213 seconds, 25 seconds too long, resulting in the craft taking an unusually steep trajectory and the crew having to endure an acceleration of 10 gs. Rukavishnikov and Ivanov were safely recovered.[2] It was the second ballistic entry reported by the Soviets, Soyuz 1 being the first (although Soyuz 18a was a ballistic reentry, and Soyuz 24 reportedly also was one).[2]

The high G-loads during reentry were a mix of crew error and a design flaw in the autopilot; because the backup engine produced less thrust than the main engine, the autopilot tried to run it until the proper delta V was achieved, but the cosmonauts issued a manual shutoff command after 213 seconds of burn time. This unwise decision resulted in a ballistic reentry. This would have caused the Soyuz to land uprange of the planned landing point, but the low delta-V (as the result of the crew manually shutting off the engine early) resulted in the opposite effect and instead, the capsule touched down very close to the target area.

An investigation lasted a month and found that the part that failed had been tested 8,000 times previously without failing, and the Soyuz engine had fired some 2,000 times since 1967, also without a single failure. But the engine was modified for the next flight, and a vacant Soyuz with the newly modified engine, Soyuz 34, was sent to the orbiting Salyut for the crew there to return with.[2]

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Spaceflight mission report: Soyuz 33". http://www.spacefacts.de/mission/english/soyuz-33.htm.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Newkirk, Dennis (1990). Almanac of Soviet Manned Space Flight. Houston, Texas: Gulf Publishing Company. ISBN 0-87201-848-2.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Clark, Phillip (1988). The Soviet Manned Space Program. New York: Orion Books, a division of Crown Publishers, Inc.. ISBN 0-517-56954-X. https://archive.org/details/sovietmannedspac0000clar.
4. ↑ Oberg, James E. (1981). Red Star in Orbit: The Inside Story of the Soviet Space Programme. London: Harrap Limited. p. 196. ISBN 0-245-53809-7.

## External links

* Soyuz 33 chronology at videocosmos.com

* v
* t
* e

Soyuz human spaceflight programme

* List of Soyuz missions
* List of Soviet human spaceflight missions
* List of Russian human spaceflight missions

Main topics|

* Soyuz (rocket family)
* Soyuz (spacecraft)
* Baikonur Cosmodrome
* Site 1/5
* Site 31/6
* Soyuz abort modes
* Cosmonaut ranks and positions

Past missions
(by spacecraft type)|

| Soyuz 7K-OK (1966–1970)|

* Kosmos 133†
* Soyuz 7K-OK No.1† (uncrewed)
* Kosmos 140
* Soyuz 1†
* Kosmos 186
* 188
* 212
* 213
* 238
* Soyuz 2 (uncrewed)
* 3
* 4
* 5
* 6
* 7
* 8
* 9

|

Soyuz 7K-L1 (1967–1970)
(Zond lunar programme)|

* Kosmos 146
* 154†
* Zond 1967A†
* 1967B†
* Zond 4
* 1968A†
* 1968B†
* 5
* 6
* 1969A†
* Zond-M 1†
* M 2†
* Zond 7
* 8
* 9
* 10

Soyuz 7K-L1E (1969–1970)|

* Soyuz 7K-L1E No.1†
* Kosmos 382

Soyuz 7K-LOK (1971–1972)|

* Soyuz 7K-LOK No.1†
* No.2†

Soyuz 7K-OKS (1971)|

* Soyuz 10†
* 11†

Soyuz 7K-T (1972–1981)|

* Kosmos 496
* 573
* Soyuz 12
* Kosmos 613
* Soyuz 13
* Kosmos 656
* Soyuz 14
* 15†
* 17
* 18a†
* 18
* 20 (uncrewed)
* 21
* 23†
* 24
* 25†
* 26
* 27
* 28
* 29
* 30
* 31
* 32 (uncrewed landing)
* 33†
* 34 (uncrewed launch)
* 35
* 36
* 37
* 38
* 39
* 40

Soyuz 7K-TM (1974–1976)|

* Kosmos 638
* 672
* Soyuz 16
* 19 (Apollo–Soyuz Test Project)
* 22

Soyuz 7K-S (1974–1976)|

* Kosmos 670
* 772†
* 869†

Soyuz-T (1978–1986)|

* Kosmos 1001†
* 1074
* Soyuz T-1 (uncrewed)
* T-2
* T-3
* T-4
* T-5
* T-6
* T-7
* T-8†
* T-9
* T-10a†
* T-10
* T-11
* T-12
* T-13
* T-14
* T-15

Soyuz-TM (1986–2002)|

* Soyuz TM-1 (uncrewed)
* TM-2
* TM-3
* TM-4
* TM-5
* TM-6
* TM-7
* TM-8
* TM-9
* TM-10
* TM-11
* TM-12
* TM-13
* TM-14
* TM-15
* TM-16
* TM-17
* TM-18
* TM-19
* TM-20
* TM-21
* TM-22
* TM-23
* TM-24
* TM-25
* TM-26
* TM-27
* TM-28
* TM-29
* TM-30
* TM-31
* TM-32
* TM-33
* TM-34

Soyuz-TMA (2002–2012)|

* Soyuz TMA-1
* TMA-2
* TMA-3
* TMA-4
* TMA-5
* TMA-6
* TMA-7
* TMA-8
* TMA-9
* TMA-10
* TMA-11
* TMA-12
* TMA-13
* TMA-14
* TMA-15
* TMA-16
* TMA-17
* TMA-18
* TMA-19
* TMA-20
* TMA-21
* TMA-22

Soyuz-TMA-M (2010–2016)|

* Soyuz TMA-01M
* TMA-02M
* TMA-03M
* TMA-04M
* TMA-05M
* TMA-06M
* TMA-07M
* TMA-08M
* TMA-09M
* TMA-10M
* TMA-11M
* TMA-12M
* TMA-13M
* TMA-14M
* TMA-15M
* TMA-16M
* TMA-17M
* TMA-18M
* TMA-19M
* TMA-20M

Soyuz MS (2016–present)|

* Soyuz MS-01
* MS-02
* MS-03
* MS-04
* MS-05
* MS-06
* MS-07
* MS-08
* MS-09
* MS-10†
* MS-11
* MS-12
* MS-14 (uncrewed test flight)

Current missions|

* Soyuz MS-13
* MS-15

Future missions|

* 2020
* Soyuz MS-16
* MS-17

Uncrewed missions are designated as Kosmos instead of Soyuz; exceptions are noted "(uncrewed)".
The † sign designates failed missions. Italics designates cancelled missions.

* v
* t
* e

Interkosmos programme

Satellites|

* Interkosmos 1
* Interkosmos 2
* Interkosmos 3
* Interkosmos 4
* Interkosmos 5
* Interkosmos 6
* Interkosmos 7
* Interkosmos 8
* Interkosmos 9
* Interkosmos 10
* Interkosmos 11
* Interkosmos 12
* Interkosmos 13
* Interkosmos 14
* Interkosmos 15
* Interkosmos 16
* Interkosmos 17
* Interkosmos 18
* Interkosmos 19
* Interkosmos 20
* Interkosmos 21
* Interkosmos 22
* Interkosmos 23
* Interkosmos 24
* Interkosmos 25
* Interkosmos 26

Manned flights|

* Soyuz 28
* Soyuz 30
* Soyuz 31
* Soyuz 33
* Soyuz 36
* Soyuz 37
* Soyuz 38
* Soyuz 39
* Soyuz 40
* Soyuz T-6
* Soyuz T-11
* Soyuz TM-3
* Soyuz TM-5
* Soyuz TM-6
* Soyuz TM-7

* v
* t
* e

Orbital launches in 1979

Kosmos 1070 | Kosmos 1071 | Kosmos 1072 | Molniya-3 No.23 | Meteor-Priroda No.2-3 | Kosmos 1073 | SCATHA | Kosmos 1074 | Ayame 1 | Kosmos 1075 | Kosmos 1076 | Kosmos 1077 | Zenit-2M No.131 | AEM-2 | Hakucho | Ekran No.16L | Kosmos 1078 | Solwind | Soyuz 32 | Kosmos 1079 | Interkosmos 19 | Meteor-2 No.4 | Progress 5 | Kosmos 1080 | Kosmos 1081 * Kosmos 1082 * Kosmos 1083 * Kosmos 1084 * Kosmos 1085 * Kosmos 1086 * Kosmos 1087 * Kosmos 1088 | OPS 3854 * OPS 6675 | Kosmos 1089 | Kosmos 1090 | Kosmos 1091 | Soyuz 33 | Kosmos 1092 | Molniya-1-43 | Kosmos 1093 | Kosmos 1094 | Kosmos 1095 | Gran' No.15L | Kosmos 1096 | Kosmos 1097 | OPS 6292 | Progress 6 | Kosmos 1098 | Kosmos 1099 | Kosmos 1100 * Kosmos 1101 | Kosmos 1102 | OPS 7164 | Kosmos 1103 | Kosmos 1104 | Ariel 6 | Molniya-3 No.21 | Soyuz 34 | OPS 5390 | Bhaskara 1 | Kosmos 1105 | OPS 7484 | Kosmos 1106 | Kosmos 1107 | Kosmos 1108 | NOAA-6 | Kosmos 1109 | Progress 7 (KRT-10) | Kosmos 1110 | Kosmos 1111 | Gorizont No.12L | Kosmos 1112 | Kosmos 1113 | Kosmos 1114 | Kosmos 1115 | Kosmos 1116 | Kosmos 1117 | Kosmos 1118 | Unnamed | Molniya-1-44 | Kosmos 1119 | Westar 3 | RTP | Kosmos 1120 | Kosmos 1121 | Kosmos 1122 | Kosmos 1123 | Kosmos 1124 | Kosmos 1125 | Kosmos 1126 | Kosmos 1127 | Kosmos 1128 | HEAO-3 | Kosmos 1129 | Kosmos 1130 * Kosmos 1131 * Kosmos 1132 * Kosmos 1133 * Kosmos 1134 * Kosmos 1135 * Kosmos 1136 * Kosmos 1137 | Kosmos 1138 | OPS 1948 | Ekran No.17L | Kosmos 1139 | Kosmos 1140 | Unnamed | Kosmos 1141 | Molniya-1-45 | Kosmos 1142 | Kosmos 1143 | Magsat | Meteor-2 No.7 | Interkosmos 20 | Kosmos 1144 | OPS 9443 * OPS 9444 | Kosmos 1145 | Kosmos 1146 | Satcom 3 | Kosmos 1147 | Soyuz T-1 | CAT-1 | Gorizont No.13L | Kosmos 1148

Payloads are separated by bullets ( * ), launches by pipes ( | ). Crewed flights are indicated in bold text. Uncatalogued launch failures are listed in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are denoted in (brackets).

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