View source for Engineering:Soyuz 7K-OK

{{short description|First generation of the Soyuz spacecraft of the Soyuz programme}}
{{Infobox spacecraft class 
| name         = Soyuz 7K-OK
| image        = Soyuz 7K-OK(A) drawing.png
| caption      = Soyuz 7K-OK (active) spacecraft with an active docking unit
| manufacturer = [[Engineering:OKB|Experimental Design Bureau]] (OKB-1)
| country      = [[Place:Soviet Union|Soviet Union]]
| applications = Tested a new crewed space vehicle in orbit and returned to Earth
| operator     = [[Astronomy:Soviet space program|Soviet space program]] 
| orbits       = [[Astronomy:Low Earth orbit|Low Earth orbit]]
| lifetime     = 
| derivedfrom  = [[Engineering:Soyuz-A|Soyuz-A]] (concept only)
| derivatives  = [[Engineering:Soyuz 7K-OKS|Soyuz 7K-OKS]] ([[Engineering:Salyut 1|Salyut 1]] ferry)
{{nowrap|[[Engineering:Soyuz 7K-L1|Soyuz 7K-L1]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Siddiqi |first=Asif |date=March 2003 |editor-last=Simpson |editor-first=Clive |editor2-last=Owens |editor2-first=Lucy |title=Soyuz variants: a 40-year history. |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ef8124031cfcf448b11db32/t/5f1c451786ffed423feac12c/1595688224819/Siddiqi+Soyuz+Variants+A+40+Year+History+2003.pdf |journal=British Interplanetary Society |volume=45 |issue=3 |pages=119}}</ref> (lunar)}}
[[Engineering:Soyuz 7K-T|Soyuz 7K-T]] (successor)
| status       = No longer in service
| built        = 16
| launched     = 16
| first        = [[Engineering:Kosmos 133|Kosmos 133]], 1966
| last         = [[Engineering:Soyuz 9|Soyuz 9]], 1970
}}
[[File:Chart of Soyuz spacecraft models.png|thumb|290px|Soyuz family tree: Proposed Soyuz models in white, models that flew in blue and lunar models in green.{{Citation needed|date=August 2012}}]]

'''Soyuz 7K-OK''' was the first generation of [[Engineering:Soyuz (spacecraft)|Soyuz]] spacecraft and was flown between 1967 and 1971.<ref name=Mir>{{cite web |url=http://ston.jsc.nasa.gov/collections/TRS/_techrep/RP1357.pdf|title=Mir Hardware Heritage|last=Portree|first=David|date=March 1995|publisher=NASA|access-date=24 August 2012|url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090907191412/http://ston.jsc.nasa.gov/collections/TRS/_techrep/RP1357.pdf|archive-date=7 September 2009}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> The 7K-OK was used for the first ferry flights to the [[Engineering:Salyut programme|Salyut space station program]], beginning a long history of space station service that continues today with the [[Astronomy:International Space Station|International Space Station]] (ISS).

{{As of|{{CURRENTYEAR}}}}, the 7K-OK is notable for the only fatalities of the [[Engineering:Soyuz programme|Soyuz programme]], with [[Engineering:Soyuz 1|Soyuz 1]] in 1967 (sole crew-member killed by parachute failure) and [[Engineering:Soyuz 11|Soyuz 11]] in 1971 (three crew killed by depressurisation during reentry).

The first uncrewed automated docking in the history of spaceflight was achieved between 7K-OK spacecraft [[Engineering:Kosmos 186 and Kosmos 188|Kosmos 186 and Kosmos 188]] in 1967. Additional firsts include the first docking between two crewed spacecraft ([[Engineering:Soyuz 4|Soyuz 4]] and [[Engineering:Soyuz 5|Soyuz 5]]), the longest crewed flight involving only one spacecraft (the 18-day flight of [[Engineering:Soyuz 9|Soyuz 9]] in 1970), and the first successful transfer of crew to the first space station in the history of space flight ([[Engineering:Soyuz 11|Soyuz 11]] and [[Engineering:Salyut 1|Salyut 1]] in 1971).

== Description ==
The Soyuz 7K-OK vehicles carried a crew of up to three without [[Astronomy:Space suit|space suit]]s. The craft can be distinguished from those following by their bent solar panels and their use of the [[Engineering:Igla (spacecraft docking system)|Igla]] automatic docking navigation system, which required special radar antennas.

The 7K-OK was primarily intended as a variant of the 7K-LOK (the lunar mission Soyuz) for Earth orbital testing. Mostly the same vehicle, it lacked the larger antenna needed to communicate at lunar distance. The early Soyuz models also sported an external toroidal fuel tank surrounding the engines and meant to store extra propellant for lunar flights, but it was left empty on the first nine flights. After the spacecraft's purpose was changed to space station ferry duties, the tank was removed.

Soyuz 7K-OK spacecraft had a "probe and drogue" [[Engineering:Docking and berthing of spacecraft|docking mechanism]] to connect with other spacecraft in orbit, in order to gather engineering data as a preparation for the Soviet space station program. There were two variants of Soyuz 7K-OK: Soyuz 7K-OK (active) featuring an active "probe" docking port, and Soyuz 7K-OK (passive) featuring a passive "drogue" docking target. The docking mechanisms of 7K-OK and 7K-LOK did not allow internal transfer (this feature was added on the [[Engineering:Soyuz 7K-OKS|Soyuz 7K-OKS]] version), thus cosmonauts had to spacewalk between docked modules. This procedure was conducted successfully on the joint [[Engineering:Soyuz 4|Soyuz 4]] and [[Engineering:Soyuz 5|Soyuz 5]] missions, where [[Biography:Aleksei Yeliseyev|Aleksei Yeliseyev]] and [[Biography:Yevgeny Khrunov|Yevgeny Khrunov]] transferred from their Soyuz 5 to the Soyuz 4 craft.

The first uncrewed test of this version was [[Engineering:Kosmos 133|Kosmos 133]], launched on 28 November 1966.

== Soyuz 7K-OKS ==
{{main|Engineering:Soyuz 7K-OKS}}

The last two Soyuz space craft of this series were of the designation Soyuz 7K-OKS. The main modification was the addition of the new [[Astronomy:SSVP docking system|SSVP docking system]] that allowed internal crew transfer, which was performed for the first time on the [[Engineering:Salyut 1|Salyut 1]] space station by [[Engineering:Soyuz 11|Soyuz 11]]. The SSVP docking adapter is still in use today on the [[Astronomy:International Space Station|International Space Station]] (ISS).

== Uncrewed and test missions ==
* [[Engineering:Kosmos 133|Kosmos 133]]
* [[Engineering:Kosmos 140|Kosmos 140]]
* [[Engineering:Kosmos 186 and Kosmos 188|Kosmos 186 and Kosmos 188]], the first uncrewed automated docking in the history of spaceflight.
* [[Engineering:Kosmos 212|Kosmos 212]] and [[Engineering:Kosmos 213|Kosmos 213]], uncrewed automated docking mission.
* [[Engineering:Kosmos 238|Kosmos 238]]
* [[Engineering:Soyuz 2|Soyuz 2]], intended docking target for the crewed [[Engineering:Soyuz 3|Soyuz 3]].

== Crewed missions ==
* [[Engineering:Soyuz 1|Soyuz 1]], the first crewed Soyuz flight, commander and sole crew-member killed on re-entry.
* [[Engineering:Soyuz 3|Soyuz 3]]
* [[Engineering:Soyuz 4|Soyuz 4]] and [[Engineering:Soyuz 5|Soyuz 5]], the first crewed docking and first crew transfer in the history of spaceflight.
* [[Engineering:Soyuz 6|Soyuz 6]]
* [[Engineering:Soyuz 7|Soyuz 7]] and [[Engineering:Soyuz 8|Soyuz 8]]: Intended docking, to be filmed by Soyuz 6 crew – docking failed due to malfunction.
* [[Engineering:Soyuz 9|Soyuz 9]]

* [[Engineering:Soyuz 10|Soyuz 10]] (Soyuz 7K-OKS), [[Engineering:Salyut 1|Salyut 1]] ferry, the first docking attempt to a space station in the history of spaceflight.
* [[Engineering:Soyuz 11|Soyuz 11]] (Soyuz 7K-OKS), Salyut 1 ferry, the first crewing of a space station in the history of spaceflight – crew killed on re-entry.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070701035626/http://www.energia.ru/english/energia/news/news-2006/public_07-01.html RSC Energia: Concept Of Russian Manned Space Navigation Development]
* Mir Hardware Heritage
** David S.F. Portree, ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20020406094119/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/references/r-documents-mirhh.htm Mir Hardware Heritage]'', NASA RP-1357, 1995
** Mir Hardware Heritage (wikisource)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070714090258/http://www.astronautix.com/craftfam/soyuz.htm Information on Soyuz spacecraft]
* [http://www.io.com/~o_m/ssh/astp/astp.htm OMWorld's ASTP Docking Trainer Page]
* [http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/soyuz/spacecraft_detail.html NASA - Russian Soyuz TMA Spacecraft Details]
* [http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/070628_private_moonshot.html Space Adventures circum-lunar mission - details]

{{Soyuz}}
{{Soyuz variants}}
{{Russian human spaceflight programs}}

[[Category:Crewed spacecraft]]
[[Category:Soyuz program]]

{{Sourceattribution|Soyuz 7K-OK}}