Backup crew
Reserve crew
Mission
The flight was primarily a preparatory run for the planned long duration space station missions. It tested, for a longer period of time than any other, the capacity of the hardware and the human crew, on the long-term exposure to space conditions and observing (both visually and photographically) geological and geographical objects, weather formations, water surfaces, and snow and ice covers. The crew conducted observations of celestial bodies and practiced astronavigation, by locking onto Vega or Canopus, and then used a sextant to measure its relation to the Earth horizon. The orbital elements were refined to three decimal places by the crew.
Commander Nikolayev and flight engineer Sevastyanov spent 18 days in space conducting various physiological and biomedical experiments on themselves, but also investigating the social implications of prolonged spaceflight. The cosmonauts spent time in two-way TV links with their families, watched matches in the 1970 FIFA World Cup, played chess with ground control, and voted in a Soviet election. The mission set a new space endurance record and marked a shift in emphasis away from spacefarers merely being able to exist in space for the duration of a long mission (such as the Apollo flights to the Moon) to being able to live in space. The mission took an unexpected physical toll on the cosmonauts; in order to conserve attitude control gas during the lengthy stay in orbit, Soyuz 9 was placed in a spin-stabilisation mode that made Nikolayev and Sevastyanov dizzy and space sick.
- Apogee:
- Inclination: 51.70°
- Period: 88.59 minutes
Chess game
During the mission, the two cosmonauts played a game of chess against a pair of opponents on Earth: head of cosmonauts Nikolai Kamanin and fellow cosmonaut Viktor Gorbatko. It was the first documented game played by humans while in space. It was a , with the two cosmonauts playing as White and jointly deciding each move, while the two players on Earth did likewise as Black. The set used aboard Soyuz 9 had pegs and grooves to keep the pieces in place and did not include magnets, which might have interfered with the spacecraft's systems. June 1970 <br /> 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 e5 4.Bxc4 exd4 5.exd4 Nc6 6.Be3 Bd6 7.Nc3 Nf6 8.Nf3 0-0 9.0-0 Bg4 10.h3 Bf5 11.Nh4 Qd7 12.Qf3 Ne7 13.g4 Bg6 14.Rae1 Kh8 15.Bg5 Neg8 16.Ng2 Rae8 17.Be3 Bb4 18.a3 Bxc3 19.bxc3 Be4 20.Qg3 c6 21.f3
Bd5 22.Bd3 b5 23.Qh4 g6 24.Nf4 Bc4 25.Bxc4 bxc4 26.Bd2 Rxe1 27.Rxe1 Nd5 28.g5 Qd6 29.Nxd5 cxd5 30.Bf4 Qd8 31.Be5+ f6 32.gxf6 Nxf6 33.Bxf6+ Rxf6 34.Re8+ Qxe8 35.Qxf6+ Kg8
Sevastyanov was a chess enthusiast and after retiring from the cosmonaut corps served as president of the Soviet Chess Federation from 1977-86 and 1988-89. They required help exiting the descent module and were virtually unable to walk for a few days.
See also
- Timeline of longest spaceflights