Crew

• Viktor Gorbatko (2)
• Yuri Glazkov (1)

Mission Parameters

• Mass: 6800 kg
• Perigee: 184.7 km
• Apogee: 346.2 km
• Inclination: 51.65°
• Period: 89.52 minutes

Soyuz 24 was a human spaceflight launched February 7, 1977 on a mission to dock with the Salyut 5 space station. Its main objective was to investigate the atmosphere on the station to see if it was in fact toxic and had an effect on the crew of the Soyuz 21 contributing to the problems they had at the end of their flight. On board were Viktor Gorbatko and Yuri Glazkov. Their callsign for the mission was Terek (after the Terek River in the Caucasus).

The crew of Soyuz 21 had experienced psychological and physical problems during their stay on the station. Although it was thought that this was mainly due to them becoming emotional, not following their physical training, and developing an unreasonable desire to return to earth, there was speculation that maybe some fuel had leaked into the living areas.

The Soyuz 24 cosmonauts entered the station wearing breathing masks, apparently because of the problems encountered on Soyuz 21, but the air proved safe to breathe. The main purpose of their mission seems to have been to tie up loose ends generated by the precipitous departure of the Soyuz 21 crew. They loaded the Salyut 5 Earth-return capsule with samples and film. It detached the day after their departure from the station, on February 26, and was recovered. The Soyuz 24 crew conducted Earth observation and materials sciences experiments.

This prompted the Soviets to design equipment that could be used to completely change the air of the station by venting the atmosphere through the airlock. The equipment involved compressed air being released which created a breeze that blew the contaminated air out of the airlock.

When the crew arrived they found that the station atmosphere was completely fine and free of any toxins. It was decided to perform the experiment anyway to prove that it was possible in case the need ever arose in the future aboard other stations. Air was released from the forward end of the station while simultaneously being replaced from storage tanks in the Soyuz 24 orbital module. Because of this the planned EVA was cancelled.

The mission was short by space station standards at only 18 days. The Soviets said however that it was a busy and successful mission, accomplishing nearly as much as the earlier Soyuz 21's 50 day mission.

The landing took place on February 25 when the capsule touched down 36 km northeast of Arkalyk , Kazakhstan.