The TKS spacecraft was first designed as a Proton rocket launched manned spacecraft, with the VA (Vozvrashaemiy Apparat) capsule on top for the crew, where they would enter the lower portion of the TKS, the FGB (the "Functional Cargo Block"), through a hatch cut in the heat shield.
The VA capsule was flown separately on four test missions with two capsules in one booster to test the design, as well as one "all up" test mission and three resuply missions with no VA capsule. It was never flown manned.
The TKS design, which has never been flown manned, has gone on to provide the basic structure for the Kvant, Kvant-2, Krystall, Spektr, and Priroda modules for the Mir space station as well as the ZaryaISS module.
TKS capsules (VA is the Russian acronym) flew 13 times between 1976 and 1983, ten times in capsule tests, three times as part of complete TKSspacecraft which docked with Salyut space stations.
The TKS crew instruments were assembled from the same building blocks as those used in the Soyuz series of spacecraft.
The crew of the TKS went from the descent capsule to the main spacecraft cabin through this hatch in the heat shield of the capsule.
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