Soyuz 13 was a second test flight of the redesigned Soyuz capsule that first flew as Soyuz 12. This particular spacecraft was further specially modified to carry a large camera for astrophysical observations. December 18 is the 352nd day of the year (353rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... It has been suggested that leap second be merged into this article or section. ... The Baikonur Cosmodrome (Kazakh: Байқоңыр ғарыш айлағы, Bayqoñır ğarış aylağı; Russian: Космодром Байконур, Kosmodrom Baykonur), also called Tyuratam, is the worlds oldest and largest working space launch facility. ... December 26 is the 360th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, 361st in leap years. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... Statue of Nurken Abdirov in downtown Karaganda Karaganda (Russian: Караганда) or Qaraghandy (Kazak: Қарағанды) is the capital of Qaraghandy Province in Kazakhstan. ... The Soyuz human spaceflight programme was initiated in the early 1960s as part of the manned lunar programme that was intended to put a Soviet cosmonaut on the Moon. ... Soyuz 12 was the test flight of the newly-redesigned Soyuz spacecraft that was intended to provide greater crew safety in the wake of the Soyuz 11 tragedy. ... A camera is a device used to take pictures (usually photographs), either singly or in sequence, with or without sound recording, such as with video cameras. ... Spiral Galaxy ESO 269-57 Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties (luminosity, density, temperature and chemical composition) of celestial objects such as stars, galaxies, and the interstellar medium, as well as their interactions. ...

Using this instrument, cosmonauts Valentin Lebedev and Pyotr Klimuk carried out ultraviolet photography of stars and spectroscopic photography of the Earth. U.S. Space Shuttle astronaut Bruce McCandless II using a manned maneuvering unit (MMU) outside the Challenger in 1984. ... Valentin Vitaliyevich Lebedev (Russian: Валентин Витальевич Лебедев; born April 14, 1942 in Moscow) was a Soviet cosmonaut who made two flights into space. ... Pyotr Ilyich Klimuk (Belarusian: Пётр Ільі́ч Кліму́к; Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Климу́к; born July 10, 1942 in Komarovka, USSR (now in Belarus)) was a Soviet cosmonaut who made three flights into space. ... Ultraviolet (UV) light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than soft X-rays. ... Photography is the process of making pictures by means of the action of light. ... Extremely high resolution spectrum of the Sun showing thousands of elemental absorption lines (fraunhofer lines) Spectroscopy is the study of spectra, that is, the dependence of physical quantities on frequency. ...

Once again, the new Soyuz variant performed extremely well when on-board systems were tested.

Crew

• Valentin Lebedev (1)
• Pyotr Klimuk (1)

Valentin Vitaliyevich Lebedev (Russian: Валентин Витальевич Лебедев; born April 14, 1942 in Moscow) was a Soviet cosmonaut who made two flights into space. ... Pyotr Ilyich Klimuk (Belarusian: Пётр Ільі́ч Кліму́к; Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Климу́к; born July 10, 1942 in Komarovka, USSR (now in Belarus)) was a Soviet cosmonaut who made three flights into space. ...

Mission parameters

• Mass: 6560 kg
• Perigee: 188 km
• Apogee: 247 km
• Inclination: 51.6°
• Period: 88.8 min