Salyut-7 (Салют-7)

CTB FILM COMPANY

ROSSIYA 1 TV CHANNEL

WITH THE SUPPORT FROM THE RUSSIAN CINEMA FUND

THIS FILM IS BASED ON THE EVENTS OF THE 1985, SALYUT-7 RESCUE MISSION

Welding in silence feels strange. I like the sound of it.

Sheekh-sheekh-sheekh...

You do a good impression of it.

That's a nice weld.

Yes, but molten metal is spilling out on the other side. Can you see it?

Yes, I can see it.

I'll take a couple of historic photos. Svetlana, smile for posterity.

You look great.

Guys, time to get back inside.

You're 4 hours and 10 minutes into the EVA.

- Any word from Zarya? - We'll have signal in two minutes.

Alright, we're wrapping up.

I wonder,

if people ever have to leave Earth, would they be able to live in space?

To procreate, raise their children, sustain themselves, fall in love?

Make love in outer space...

They might conduct such an experiment someday.

Why not? They'll invent a simulator to train cosmonauts for... love.

Cosmonaut Ivanov spends a record amount of time in the simulator,

- setting a new space record. - Stop it, guys.

Comrade cosmonauts, stop fantasizing.

You're doing a welding job on a space station, remember?

Zarya, we already finished.

Return to the station. Do you have much oxygen left?

Enough for 15 more minutes.

That was awkward. I thought you couldn't hear us.

So did I, but I'm glad cosmonaut Lazareva got an opportunity

to personally present a new idea to management.

We accept it for consideration. Training starts next year.

Comrades, the first female spacewalker is joking and talking about love.

I'd applaud cosmonaut Lazareva.

The entire MCC is applauding her.

- Ouch! - What happened?

Svetlana, don't move.

- What happened? - My glove got punctured.

- Don't move your hand. - I'm trying not to.

A welding burr went right through the glove and got embedded in it.

- Check the pressure. - It's dropping.

Stay very still.

- Vladimir, can you cut the burr off? - I'm on it.

- What's the pressure? - 0.7 atm.

It's alright. Give me your hand.

Now, walk with me. Imagine we're strolling down Arbat Street.

We're passing the House of Books, across from the restaurant Praga.

Now we turn into the boulevard. Svetlana, talk to me.

I'm talking to you...

- Vladimir, you have two minutes. - That's enough time.

What's the Latin name for 'silver' used in the periodic table?

- What? - What's Latin for 'silver'?

- Argentum. - And for 'quicksilver'?

- Hydrargyrum. - Right. I always get them confused.

- I can't see you. Where are you? - Just around the corner.

Are we going to the cinema?

Of course we are.

We're almost there. Today they're showing The Autumn Marathon.

- Are you getting in? - Yes, we are.

- Do you like The Autumn Marathon? - I like... The Autumn...

That's the spirit. After you, dear.

Atta girl.

What's the pressure?

Are you getting in?

Lazareva? Fyodorov? Do you read me? Copy!

Guys, are you inside yet? What's the matter?

SALYUT-7

I can't use any laws of physics to describe it.

Vladimir, think about the absurdity of the situation.

Cosmonaut Lazareva nearly died

because you saw a light that obscured your conscious function.

If I put that in the report

it would severely undermine your career as a cosmonaut.

What if I saw angels?

How's that for an answer?

You're joking, right?

If I was joking you'd be laughing.

BANNED FROM FLYING

When you flew over the Soviet Union, did you think about Olya and me?

Uh-uh.

Every time?

Every time.

Really? Sixteen times a day?

More often than that.

I didn't think of you only when I flew over Madagascar.

What did you think about when you flew over Madagascar?

I wondered what would happen if I land there from space.

The locals would probably see me falling out of the sky, find me,

and make me their king.

I'd tell them stories about space, about stars, about the Universe,

and a little bit about what my life was like in the USSR.

What was your life like in the USSR?

Tell me.

I love you.

I want you to get back to normal life on Earth.

I'm trying to.

How did that happen?

Vladimir, here on Earth objects fall down.

- Let's go inside. - I feel so embarrassed...

The signal disappeared.

I get an error!

The telemetry system is down.

- So are the temperature sensors! - And the radio electronics!

And the batteries!

I can see it, all systems shut down. Keep calm. Reload the system.

LOG OF SALYUT-7

- Here's the last data we received, sir. - Thank you.

- How long has it been? - Three hours and six minutes.

Come, let's have a meeting.

Valery, here are some photos from the telescope.

Can't tell if it's Salyut or not.

- What if the U.S. shot it down? - Yeah right...

What about their SDI, the 'Star Wars'?

Are you calling the MoD?

No, cancelling tomorrow's BBQ...

Operator, put me through to the Ministry of Defense.

The Soviet Union has lost control of its orbital space station.

Salyut-7 is now an uncontrollable space object weighing 20 tons.

According to specialists, the station will soon start rapidly descending.

Right now it's impossible to tell where Salyut-7 is going to crash.

When and where this Soviet space station will fall from space to Earth?

There's a good chance this space station will crash in the United States,

and it could happen anytime.

Experts are saying the station could fall on any city.

If the station falls in a populated area, multiple casualties are inevitable.

We hope the Soviets take care of the problem by themselves,

but in case they can't do it in time, we're working on a solution of our own.

Comrade Shubin, please explain how, in the midst of the Cold War,

can we lose the key strategic facility in space?

We're working to determine what happened.

Does that mean you don't know what should be done?

We do. We have to go there and see.

So when are you going?

The station will be in orbit for three more months. We have time.

- No, we don't have time. - What's the rush?

We have information,

that NASA scheduled to launch the Challenger on the 30th.

That's 22 days from now.

Have a look.

This is our space station, Salyut-7. Weight 20 tons, size 15x6 meters.

Now, this is the U.S. Shuttle Challenger.

Its cargo bay size is 15x6 meters, payload capacity 20 tons.

What a coincidence, right?

Here's another fun coincidence.

The new member of the Challenger crew is our French comrade Patric de Bonnel.

He went to Salyut-7 together with Vladimir Fyodorov.

They're still friends, de Bonnel even mails him chestnuts and stinky cheese.

Patric knows Salyut-7 as well as our guys do.

If the Americans seize our station, would that be seen as an invasion?

Yes, and we would have to retaliate.

Valery, you do understand that we can't let the Americans intercept Salyut-7.

If you don't send someone there, we'll be forced to shoot it down.

But the debris from the explosion would destoy

all satellites currently in orbit,

that would set us back at least for 10 years.

Nobody has ever docked to an uncontrolled object in orbit.

We can rush it.

Get the crew ready.

Fifteen years ago today,

the first space station Salyut-1 was launched into orbit.

Its newest modification Salyut-7 successfully operates in low Earth orbit.

It's work continues as planned in automatic mode

as it's currently uninhabited.

All systems are operated remotely from the Mission Control Center.

The station is rotating on two axis, at about one degree per second.

- How do you dock with it? - Fyodorov would do it.

Only Lazovoy, Fyodorov and Plakhov have ever done manual docking.

Astakhov's had lots of training.

Let's stop guessing, put them in the simulator,

and get them trying to dock with a rotating station.

You're right.

Valery, call in Fyodorov.

Fyodorov's been banned from space travel by the medics.

We'll try others.

- The fish aren't biting today. - They probably went into hibernation.

Let's have a drink so we don't go into hibernation as well.

Great idea.

Victor! Comrade Alyokhin!

You're urgently required to report for duty!

Coming!

- Well, I guess that's a wrap. - What's the urgency, I wonder.

I probably passed the medical.

Put away your fishing rod, please.

You didn't tell me about the medical.

What's there to talk about?

I pass it every time, but they always place me on a backup crew.

- Come on, you thought I'd envy you? - That too, to be honest.

Are you kidding me?

You thought I'd feel bad if they chose you and not me?

You think I need your pity?

You're not even a real cosmonaut. You've never done a spacewalk.

You're just an engineer in a spacesuit.

Cheers.

- Hi, Victor. - Hello.

- How far along is your wife? - Thirty-one weeks and three days.

- No, four days. - Four...

Four days, yes.

- So, you'll be a dad soon. - Yes.

Victor, we put you on the crew.