Soyuz 31

Soyuz 31 was the 1978 Soviet-East German Interkosmos mission to Salyut 6. Valery Bykovsky commanded the flight, with Sigmund Jähn serving as research cosmonaut and becoming the first German in space. The spacecraft launched from Baikonur on August 26, 1978 and docked with Salyut 6 on August 28. Bykovsky and Jähn joined the resident Salyut 6 crew of Vladimir Kovalyonok and Aleksandr Ivanchenkov. The visiting crew carried out scientific and Earth-observation work, including German experiments and MKF-6M camera operations, while the crews also prepared the spacecraft-seat exchange that let the resident crew keep Soyuz 31 as their return vehicle. Bykovsky and Jähn landed aboard Soyuz 29 on September 3, 1978. Soyuz 31 remained docked until Kovalyonok and Ivanchenkov used it to return to Earth on November 2, 1978, completing their long-duration Salyut 6 expedition.