View source for Soyuz 7

{{Short description|Crewed flight of the Soyuz programme}}
{{about|a 1969 spaceflight|the proposed carrier rocket|Soyuz-7 (rocket)|the mission identified by NASA as ISS Soyuz 7|Soyuz TMA-3}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name               = Soyuz 7
| image              = The Soviet Union 1969 CPA 3810 stamp (Anatoly Filipchenko, Vladislav Volkov and Viktor Gorbatko (Soyuz 7)) cancelled.jpg
| image_caption      = Filipchenko, Volkov and Gorbatko on a 1969 commemorative stamp of Soviet Union
| image_size         = 300px

| mission_type       = [[Flight test|Test flight]]
| operator           = [[Soviet space program]]
| COSPAR_ID          = 1969-086A <ref name="Display"/>
| SATCAT             = 04124
| mission_duration   = 4 days 22 hours 40 minutes 23 seconds
| orbits_completed   = 80

| spacecraft         = Soyuz 7K-OK No.15<ref>[https://www.russianspaceweb.com/soyuz6-soyuz7-soyuz8.html Soyuz spacecraft conduct triple mission] ''www.russianspaceweb.com'', accessed 27 December 2022</ref>
| spacecraft_type    = [[Soyuz 7K-OK]] (passive)
| manufacturer       = [[OKB|Experimental Design Bureau]] (OKB-1)
| launch_mass        = 6570 kg
| landing_mass       = 1200 kg
| dimensions         = 
| power              =

| launch_date        = 12 October 1969, 10:44:42 [[Greenwich Mean Time|GMT]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt|title=Launchlog|publisher=Jonathan's Space Report|date=28 September 2020|access-date=3 October 2020}}</ref>
| launch_rocket      = [[Soyuz (rocket)|Soyuz]]
| launch_site        = [[Baikonur Cosmodrome|Baikonur]], [[Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 1|Site 1/5]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/sites/baiurlc1.htm|title=Baikonur LC1|access-date=4 March 2009 |publisher=Encyclopedia Astronautica|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415160730/http://www.astronautix.com/sites/baiurlc1.htm|archive-date=15 April 2009}}</ref>

| landing_date       = 17 October 1969, 09:25:05 GMT
| landing_site       = 155 km at the northwest of [[Karaganda]], [[Kazakhstan]]

| crew_size          = 3
| crew_members       = [[Anatoly Filipchenko]]<br/>[[Vladislav Volkov]]<br/>[[Viktor Gorbatko]]
| crew_callsign      = {{lang|ru|Буран}} ({{lang|ru-Latn|Buran}} - "Blizzard")

| crew_photo         = 
| crew_photo_caption = 
| crew_photo_size    =

| orbit_reference    = [[Geocentric orbit]]<ref name="Trajectory"/>
| orbit_regime       = [[Low Earth orbit]]
| orbit_periapsis    = 210.0 km
| orbit_apoapsis     = 223.0 km
| orbit_inclination  = 51.65°
| orbit_period       = 88.77 minutes
| apsis              = gee

| insignia           = 
| insignia_caption   = 
| insignia_size      = 200px

| programme          = [[Soyuz programme]]
| previous_mission   = [[Soyuz 6]]
| next_mission       = [[Soyuz 8]]
}}

'''Soyuz 7''' ({{langx|ru|Союз 7}}, ''Union 7'') was part of an October, 1969, joint mission with [[Soyuz 6]] and [[Soyuz 8]] that saw three [[Soyuz spacecraft]] in orbit together at the same time, carrying a total of seven [[cosmonaut]]s.

The crew consisted of commander [[Anatoly Filipchenko]], flight engineer [[Vladislav Volkov]] and research-cosmonaut [[Viktor Gorbatko]], whose mission was to dock with Soyuz 8 and transfer crew, as the [[Soyuz 4]] and [[Soyuz 5]] missions did. Soyuz 6 was to film the operation from nearby.

However, this objective was not achieved due to equipment failures. Soviet sources later claimed that no docking had been intended,{{citation needed|date=March 2014}} but this seems unlikely, given the docking adapters carried by the spacecraft, and the fact that the Soyuz 8 crew were both veterans of the previous successful docking mission. This was the last time that the Soviet crewed Moon landing hardware was tested in orbit, and the failure seems{{citation needed|date=April 2014}} to have been one of the final nails in the coffin of the programme.

The radio call sign of the spacecraft was {{lang|ru-Latn|Buran}}, meaning ''blizzard'', which years later was re-used as the name of the entirely different spaceplane [[Buran (spacecraft)|Buran]]. This word is apparently used as the name of an active or aggressive squadron in Soviet military training, and just like [[Soyuz 4]], the Soyuz 7 spacecraft was constructed to be the active or male spacecraft in its docking.

== Crew ==
{{Spaceflight crew
|terminology = Cosmonaut

|position1   = Commander
|crew1_up    = [[Anatoly Filipchenko]]
|flights1_up = First

|position2   = Flight engineer
|crew2_up    = [[Vladislav Volkov]]
|flights2_up = First

|position3   = Research engineer
|crew3_up    = [[Viktor Gorbatko]]
|flights3_up = First
}}

=== Backup Crew ===
{{Spaceflight crew
|terminology = Cosmonaut

|position1   = Commander
|crew1_up    = [[Vladimir Shatalov]]

|position2   = Flight engineer
|crew2_up    = [[Aleksei Yeliseyev]]

|position3   = Research engineer
|crew3_up    = [[Pyotr Kolodin]]
}}

=== Reserve Crew ===
{{Spaceflight crew
|terminology = Cosmonaut

|position1   = Commander
|crew1_up    = [[Andriyan Nikolayev]]

|position2   = Flight engineer
|crew2_up    = [[Georgy Grechko]]
}}

== Mission parameters ==
* '''Mass:''' {{cvt|6570|kg}} <ref name="Display"/>
* '''Perigee:''' {{cvt|210.0|km}} <ref name="Trajectory">{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/displayTrajectory.action?id=1969-086A|title=Trajectory: Soyuz 7 1969-086A|publisher=NASA |date=14 May 2020|access-date=18 October 2020}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>
* '''Apogee:''' {{cvt|223.0|km}}
* '''Inclination:''' 51.65°
* '''Period:''' 88.77 minutes

== Mission ==
The mission objectives included:<ref name="Display">{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1969-086A|title=Display: Soyuz 7 - 1969-086A|publisher=NASA|date=14 May 2020|access-date=18 October 2020}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>
* checkout the modified structure of the [[Soyuz (spacecraft)|Soyuz craft]],
* further improvement of the control, orientation, and orbital stabilisation systems and navigation aids,
* debugging the piloting systems by orbital maneuvering of the spaceships in relation to one another,
* testing of a system for control of the simultaneous flight of three spacecraft,
* scientific observations and photographing of geological-geographical subjects and exploration of the [[Atmosphere of Earth|Earth's atmosphere]],
* studying circumterrestrial space,
* conducting experiments of [[engineering research]] and [[biomedical engineering]] importance.

== Return ==
The ship was involved in group flight with Soyuz 6 and Soyuz 8. Docking did not occur, and the ship landed 5 days after launch, at 155&nbsp;km at the northwest of [[Karaganda]], [[Kazakhstan]].

== References ==
{{Portal|Spaceflight|Soviet Union}}
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Soyuz}}
{{Orbital launches in 1969}}

[[Category:Crewed Soyuz missions]]
[[Category:Spacecraft launched in 1969]]
[[Category:1969 in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Spacecraft which reentered in 1969]]