COSPAR ID 1981-042A Orbits completed 124 Manufacturer NPO Energia Dates 14 May 1981 – 22 May 1981 Landing date 22 May 1981 Launch site Baikonur Cosmodrome | SATCAT no. 12454 Spacecraft type Soyuz 7K-T Period 1.5 hours Launch date 14 May 1981 Rocket Soyuz-U | |
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Mission duration 7 days, 20 hours, 41 minutes, 52 seconds Members Leonid Popov, Dumitru Prunariu | ||
The Soyuz 40 mission was a 1981 Soviet manned spaceflight and the final flight of the Soyuz 7K-T spacecraft. It was a collaboration between the Soviet Union and Romania.
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Mission parameters
Mission highlights
Soyuz 40 was the 16th expedition to Salyut 6 and carried the ninth international crew. It also ended the first phase of the Intercosmos program by carrying Romanian cosmonaut Dumitru Prunariu and Soviet cosmonaut Leonid Popov to the station. In all, nine Intercosmos missions were launched between 1978 and 1981.
Soyuz 40 was the last of the original Soyuz spacecraft (due to its replacement by the Soyuz-T) and the last Soyuz spacecraft to dock with Salyut 6. During the crew's stay, Prunariu studied the Earth’s magnetic field. Earth observations had to be delayed until the last day of the flight, when Salyut 6 passed over Romania in daylight. During this time the crew also tested the station’s orientation system.
