Soyuz 16
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| Mission type | Orbital test flight |
|---|---|
| Operator | Soviet space program |
| COSPAR ID | 1974-096A |
| SATCAT no. | 7561 |
| Mission duration | 5 days, 22 hours and 23 minutes |
| Orbits completed | 95 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Soyuz 7K-TM No.4 |
| Spacecraft type | Soyuz 7K-TM |
| Manufacturer | NPO Energia |
| Launch mass | 6,680 kg (14,730 lb)[1] |
| Landing mass | 1,200 kg (2,600 lb) |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 2 |
| Members | Anatoly Filipchenko Nikolai Rukavishnikov |
| Callsign | Буран (Buran - "Blizzard") |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 2 December 1974, 09:40:00 UTC |
| Rocket | Soyuz-U |
| Launch site | Baikonur 1/5[2] |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | 8 December 1974, 08:03:35 UTC |
| Landing site | 30 km (19 mi) of the northeast of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit[3] |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Perigee altitude | 177 km (110 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 223 km (139 mi) |
| Inclination | 51.7° |
| Period | 88.4 minutes |
 Soviet stamp featuring Filipchenko and Rukavishnikov (1975) | |
Soyuz 16 (Russian: Союз 16, Union 16) was a December, 1974, crewed test flight for a joint Soviet-United States space flight which culminated in the Apollo–Soyuz mission in July 1975. The two-man Soviet crew, Anatoly Filipchenko and Nikolai Rukavishnikov, tested a docking ring and other systems to be used in the joint flight.
Backup crew
| Position | Cosmonaut | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander | Anatoly Filipchenko Second and last spaceflight | |
| Flight engineer | Nikolai Rukavishnikov Second spaceflight | |
| Position | Cosmonaut | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander | Vladimir Dzhanibekov | |
| Flight engineer | Boris Andreyev | |
Reserve crew
| Position | Cosmonaut | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander | Yuri Romanenko | |
| Flight engineer | Aleksandr Ivanchenkov | |
Mission parameters
Background
The Soyuz 16 mission was the final rehearsal and first crewed mission in a program which culminated in the Apollo–Soyuz (ASTP) mission seven months later.[4] The Soviet Union and the United States, Cold War rivals, had signed several arms control treaties in the 1960s and 1970s, and had entered into a period of detente by the early 1970s. In 1972, a treaty was signed to participate in a joint crewed space flight as a symbol of this detente.[5]
Early concepts for a joint flight included the docking of a Soyuz craft to the American Skylab space station, or an Apollo vehicle docking with a Salyut space station. Once the Americans abandoned their Skylab station in 1974, the Apollo-Salyut concept seemed to be the logical choice, but since the Soviets had started to develop a universal docking adapter for the mission and feared having to publicly reveal details of their military-focused Salyut missions, the two powers opted to link a Soyuz spacecraft with an Apollo spacecraft.[5]
Three test flights of an uncrewed version of the ASTP spacecraft were flown: Kosmos 638, launched 3 April 1974; Kosmos 652, launched 15 May 1974; and Kosmos 672, launched 12 August 1974. These three flights, and Soyuz 16, were all launched with an improved version of a Soyuz booster.[5]
