title: Soyuz T-11
text: # Soyuz T-11
  
  Soyuz T-11 was the sixth expedition to the Soviet Salyut 7 space station, which in 1984 carried the first Indian cosmonaut along with Soviet crew members.
  
  Salyut 7 was uncrewed after the undocking of Soyuz T-11 in October 1984 until Soyuz T-13 docked with the station in June 1985. Salyut 7 developed problems during the time it was uncrewed, which meant that the crew of Soyuz T-13 had to perform a manual docking and do repairs to the station.
  
  ## Crew
  
  | Position | Launching crew | Landing crew |
  | - | - | - |
  | Commander | Yuri Malyshev Second and last spaceflight Soviet Union | Leonid Kizim Second spaceflight Soviet Union |
  | Flight Engineer | Gennady Strekalov Third spaceflight Soviet Union | Vladimir Solovyov First spaceflight Soviet Union |
  | Research Cosmonaut | Rakesh Sharma Only spaceflight India | Oleg Atkov Only spaceflight Soviet Union |
  
  ### Backup crew
  
  | Position | Crew | Crew |
  | - | - | - |
  | Commander | Anatoly Berezovoy Soviet Union | Anatoly Berezovoy Soviet Union |
  | Flight Engineer | Georgy Grechko Soviet Union | Georgy Grechko Soviet Union |
  | Research Cosmonaut | Ravish Malhotra India | Ravish Malhotra India |
  
  ## Mission parameters
  
  * Mass: 6850 kg
  * Perigee: 195 km
  * Apogee: 224 km
  * Inclination: 51.6°
  * Period: 88.7 minutes
  
  ## Mission highlights
  
  Rakesh Sharma, aboard Salyut 7 for 7 days, 21 hours, and 40 minutes, conducted an Earth observation program concentrating on India. He also did life sciences and materials processing experiments, including silicium fusing tests. He is also reported to have experimented with practicing yoga to deal with the effects of prolonged orbital spaceflight.
  
  