On this day in space! Aug. 8, 1977: Soviet Union's Salyut 5 reconnaissance space station burns up in Earth's atmosphere
Salyut 5 was a Soviet space station and part of the highly-secretive Almaz military space station program.
On August 8, 1977, the Soviet Union's Salyut 5 reconnaissance space station met its end as it burned up in Earth's atmosphere. This particular station belonged to the secretive Almaz military space station program, which was the Soviet counterpart to the United States' Manned Orbiting Laboratory spy station. Salyut 5 was launched in 1976 and was initially intended to house two crew members who would conduct military experiments and other scientific research in orbit.
However, due to various mission failures, only three crewed missions were successfully launched to the station. The first crew, Soyuz 21, had to abort their mission early due to a noxious smell, likely caused by a fuel leak. The second crew, Soyuz 23, also failed to dock with the station when their rendezvous system experienced a malfunction.
They returned to Earth, making it the only Soyuz to ever land in water. The third and final crew, Salyut 24, visited the station in February 1977. Upon their departure, they vented the air from the station to avoid any potential contamination. With Salyut 5 running low on propellant and unable to be refueled, it was ultimately deorbited and burned up in Earth's atmosphere.
Written by urgent.news from Space.com's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
