USSR National Flag from Orbital Space Station Salyut 6.
Salyut 6 Russian 6 Lit was a Soviet orbital space station, the eighth flown as part of the Salyut program that was successfully launched by a proton rocket on September 29, 1977. This station was well known for being the first of the 'second-generation' kind of space station and Salyut 6 boasted several revolutionary advances compared to other Soviet space stations. These included a necessary second docking port, a new main propulsion system and the BST-1M multi-spectral telescope, which was the station's number one scientific instrument.

The second docking port was a great addition that made station re-supplying by unmanned progress freighters possible for the first time and crew handovers far easier. This also allowed the program to evolve from short-duration station visits only up to long-duration expeditions. This marked the start of the transition to long-term research stations in space that were multi-modular.

From 1977 through to 1982, Salyut 6 was visited by crew that included five long and 11 short-duration members, including cosmonauts from the Inter-cosmos program from Warsaw Pact countries. The first long-duration crew to make their debut to visit the station managed to break an endurance record that had been set on board the American Skylab station a long time before when they stayed a whopping total of 96 days in orbit, and ensured that their longest expedition lasted for an impressive total of 185 days.

These crews carried out the first missions from Salyut 6, including Earth-resources observations, astronomy and the study of human adaptation into space. Salyut 6 was de-orbited on July 29, 1982 nearly five years after she was launched and only after the highly anticipated launch of her successor.

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