Soyuz 6

Soyuz 6 launched Georgy Shonin and Valeriy Kubasov as the first spacecraft in the three-ship Soyuz 6 / Soyuz 7 / Soyuz 8 operation of October 1969. Spacefacts lists launch from Baikonur Site 31/6 on October 11 and landing northwest of Karaganda on October 16 after 4 days, 22 hours, 42 minutes, and 47 seconds in orbit. The mission tested Soyuz systems, formation-flight procedures, scientific and biomedical work, and the Vulkan vacuum-welding experiment, which Kubasov controlled from the descent module after the orbital module was vented. Soyuz 6 was also intended to observe the planned Soyuz 7 and Soyuz 8 docking, but the docking was not completed after trouble with the rendezvous system and later maneuver calculations. The mission still became part of the first operation with three crewed Soviet spacecraft active in orbit at once.