Soyuz T-2 (, Union T-2) was a 1980 Soviet crewed space flight to the Salyut 6 space station. It was the 12th mission to and 10th successful docking at the orbiting facility. The Soyuz T-2 crew were the second to visit the long-duration Soyuz 35 resident crew.
Soyuz T-2 carried Yury Malyshev and Vladimir Aksyonov into space. A mission lasting under four days, its primary purpose was to perform a crewed test of the new Soyuz-T spacecraft.
Crew
Backup crew
Mission highlights
When the visiting Soyuz 36 Intercosmos crew departed Salyut 6 on 3 June 1980 and the remaining resident crew almost immediately redocked the Soyuz craft left behind, observers speculated the secretive Soviets were possibly planning a second Intercosmos mission. The failure of Soyuz 33 the year before had forced the Soviets to juggle their launch schedule.
A launch indeed was soon in the offing, but not the predicted mission. Soyuz T-2 was launched 5 June with Yury Malyshev and Vladimir Aksyonov on what turned out to be the first crewed mission of the new Soyuz T variant.
As the craft approached Salyut 6, solar cells, re-introduced to the Soyuz, were tested. The approach was completed automatically, while the final 180 metres were achieved manually on 6 June. The Argon docking computer had failed, leaving the craft perpendicular to the station.