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

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