The Explorers' Club, № MCLXVII

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 50th Anniversary of Soyuz 21
6 July-24 August 1976: Soyuz 21 lifted off from the Kazakh S.S.R.'s Baikonur Cosmodrome, with CDR Boris Volynov & F.E. Vitaly Zholobov aboard a Soyuz 7K-T capsule atop a Soyuz rocket; call sign Baikal (Lake Baikal); the duo docked with & boarded the Salyut 5 space station; after forty-eight days, due to toxic fumes in Salyut 5, they emergency evacuated & landed in the Kazakh S.S.R.

Commentary: Soyuz 21 was the Soviets' first crewed flight in almost a year, since the landings of Soyuz 19 (Apollo-Soyuz Test Project) on 21 July 1975 & Soyuz 18 (from Salyut 4) on 26 July 1975. Soyuz 20 was an uncrewed flight that spent three months docked to Salyut 4 (17 November 1975-16 February 1976); this was unusual because most uncrewed test flights of Soyuz spacecraft were given the generic Kosmos designation.

Zholobov's illness from the toxic fumes was worse than Volynov's, & the next crew to visit Salyut 5 wore breathing appartus & vented the contaminated atmosphere into space. There are contrary reports that nothing was wrong with the station's atmosphere & Volynov & Zholobov deteriorated from a lack of exercise & sleep; or, the duo experienced a severe but unspecified interpersonal conflict. Maybe some combination of all three theories? The Soviet space program was always secretive, & a military spy mission like Soyuz 21 all the more so; so, we may never know for sure.

Bonus! Space Age Song o'the Day: Soyuz 21
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "Toxic Toast" from Question the Answers (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.