Progress 3

{{main|Progress 7K-TG}}

Progress 3 was a Progress 7K-TG spacecraft. The third of forty three to be launched, it had the serial number 103.{{cite web|url=http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/progress.htm |title=Progress 1 - 42 (11F615A15, 7K-TG)|first=Gunter|last=Krebs|work=Gunter's Space Page|access-date=26 November 2010}}{{cite web|url=http://planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt |title=Launch Log|last=McDowell|first=Jonathan|work=Jonathan's Space Page|access-date=26 November 2010}} The Progress 7K-TG spacecraft was the first generation Progress, derived from the Soyuz 7K-T and intended for unmanned logistics missions to space stations in support of the Salyut programme. On some missions the spacecraft were also used to adjust the orbit of the space station.

The Progress spacecraft had a dry mass of {{convert|6520|kg}}, which increased to around {{convert|7020|kg}} when fully fuelled. It measured {{convert|7.48|m}} in length, and {{convert|2.72|m}} in diameter. Each spacecraft could accommodate up to {{convert|2500|kg}} of payload, consisting of dry cargo and propellant. The spacecraft were powered by chemical batteries, and could operate in free flight for up to three days, remaining docked to the station for up to thirty.{{cite book|last1=Hall|first1=Rex D.|last2=Shayler|first2=David J.|title=Soyuz: A Universal Spacecraft|year=2003 |publisher=Springer-Praxis|isbn=1-85233-657-9|pages=239–250}}

Progress 3 was launched at 22:31:22 UTC on 7 August 1978, atop a Soyuz-U 11A511U carrier rocket flying from Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. The rocket that launched it had the serial number Ye15000-138.{{cite web|url=http://planet4589.org/space/lvdb/list2.html|title=Launch List|publisher=Jonathan's Space Page|work=Launch Vehicle Database|first=Jonathan|last=McDowell|access-date=26 November 2010}} Following launch, Progress 3 was given the COSPAR designation 1978-077A, whilst NORAD assigned it the Satellite Catalog Number 10999.

Following launch, Progress 3 began two days of free flight. It subsequently docked with the aft port of the Salyut 6 space station at 23:59:30 UTC on 9 August 1978.{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.astronautix.com/craft/progress.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011226110751/http://www.astronautix.com/craft/progress.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 December 2001|title=Progress|last=Wade|first=Mark|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Astronautica|access-date=26 November 2010}}{{cite web |url=http://space.kursknet.ru/cosmos/english/cargoes/pr2.sht|first=Alexander|last=Anikeev|work=Manned Astronautics - Figures & Facts|title=Cargo spacecraft "Progress-2"|access-date=26 November 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070910184230/http://space.kursknet.ru/cosmos/english/cargoes/pr2.sht|archive-date=10 September 2007}} At the time of its docking, Soyuz 29 was docked to the forward port of the station.

Progress 3 was the third of twelve Progress spacecraft used to supply the Salyut 6 space station between 1978 and 1981.{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1978-070A|title=Progress 2|publisher=US National Space Science Data Center|work=NSSDC Master Catalog|access-date=26 November 2010}} {{PD-notice}} It delivered cargo to the station, including food, fur boots, and Kovalyonok's guitar. Whilst Progress 3 was docked, Salyut 6 was manned by the EO-2 crew, consisting of cosmonauts Vladimir Kovalyonok and Aleksandr Ivanchenkov.{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.astronautix.com/flights/salt6eo2.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040107170214/http://www.astronautix.com/flights/salt6eo2.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 January 2004|title=Salyut 6 EO-2|first=Mark|last=Wade|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Astronautica|access-date=26 November 2010}}

On 9 August 1978, whilst docked to Salyut 6, Progress 3 was catalogued in a low Earth orbit with a perigee of {{convert|195|km}} and an apogee of {{convert|249|km}}, inclined at 51.66° and with a period of 88.7 minutes. Progress 3 undocked from Salyut 6 at 15:42:50 UTC on 21 August 1978. It remained in orbit until the late afternoon of 23 August 1978, when it was deorbited. The deorbit burn occurred at 16:45:00 UTC, with the spacecraft undergoing a destructive reentry at around 17:30 UTC.{{cite web|url=http://www.planet4589.org/space/log/satcat.txt|title=Satellite Catalog|last=McDowell|first=Jonathan|work=Jonathan's Space Page|access-date=26 November 2010}} Less than a few weeks after Progress 3 had been deorbited, Progress 4 was launched to replace it.

{{Portal|Spaceflight}}

• 1978 in spaceflight
• List of Progress missions
• List of uncrewed spaceflights to Salyut space stations

{{reflist}}

{{Progress spacecraft}}

{{Orbital launches in 1978}}

Category:1978 in the Soviet Union

Category:Progress (spacecraft) missions

Category:Spacecraft launched in 1978

Category:Spacecraft which reentered in 1978

Category:Spacecraft launched by Soyuz-U rockets