Gennadi Vasilyevich Sarafanov
Gennadi Vasilyevich Sarafanov was a Soviet Air Force officer and cosmonaut who commanded Soyuz 15, a short but important failed docking mission to Salyut 3. The flight exposed serious problems in the Igla system and affected later Soviet station operations.
- Born
- January 1, 1942
- Died
- September 29, 2005
- Birthplace
- Sinenkiye, Saratov Oblast,Soviet Union
Flights
1
Spacewalks
N/A
EVA time
N/A
In space
2 days, 12 minutes
Bio
Sarafanov trained as a military pilot before selection in the 1965 Soviet Air Force cosmonaut group. His assignment came during the Almaz/Salyut 3 period, when the Soviet program was operating military-associated space-station hardware under the public Salyut name.
Soyuz 15 launched in August 1974 with Sarafanov as and Lev Dyomin as . The spacecraft approached Salyut 3 but could not dock because of rendezvous-system malfunction, and limited propellant and electrical reserves prevented extended manual attempts.
The crew returned after about two days in orbit. Although the mission did not reach its planned station objectives, it revealed design and operational weaknesses that influenced later Soyuz and station procedures.