Soyuz T-12

Soyuz T-12 was a July 1984 Salyut 7 visiting mission that linked a veteran Soviet station commander, the first woman spacewalker, and a Buran test-pilot cosmonaut on one short-duration flight. Vladimir Dzhanibekov, Svetlana Savitskaya, and Igor Volk launched from Baikonur Site 31/6 on July 17, 1984 UTC and docked with Salyut 7 during the long-duration mission of Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov, and Oleg Atkov. The mission is best remembered for the July 25 EVA by Dzhanibekov and Savitskaya, during which Savitskaya became the first woman to perform a spacewalk. The pair tested the URI multipurpose hand tool outside Salyut 7, using it for cutting, welding, soldering, and coating metal samples. Volk's seat gave the Buran flight-test program a pilot with orbital experience, even though Buran never flew with a crew. Soyuz T-12 landed on July 29, 1984 after about 11 days, 19 hours, and 14 minutes in space.