science

Soyuz 38

Soyuz 38 is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Soyuz 38 rather than just read about it. In short: Soyuz 38 was a human spaceflight mission conducted by the Soviet Union during September 1980. The Soyuz spacecraft brought two visiting crew members to the Salyut 6 space station, one of whom was an Intercosmos cosmonaut from Cuba.

Key takeaways

Soyuz 38 belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Soyuz 38 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Soyuz 38 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Soyuz 38 was a human spaceflight mission conducted by the Soviet Union during September 1980. The Soyuz spacecraft brought two visiting crew members to the Salyut 6 space station, one of whom was an Intercosmos cosmonaut from Cuba.

Crew

Mission parameters Mass: 6800 kg Perigee: 199.7 km Apogee: 273.5 km Inclination: 51.63° Period: 88.194 minutes

Mission highlights 12th expedition to Salyut 6. 7th international crew. Carried Intercosmos cosmonaut from Cuba. The Soyuz 38 docking occurred in darkness. As the spacecraft approached Salyut 6, the crew on the space station could see only its "headlights". Ryumin filmed ignition and operation of the transport's main engine. Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez of Cuba and Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Romanenko docked without incident. The purpose of the Soyuz 38 mission was to carry out nine experiments. They stimulated different areas of the brain to further understand the electrical activity in our brain. This was done using a customized helmet for each cosmonaut with silver electrodes and a tape recorder. The cosmonauts also wore special shoes to study the structure and motion of feet changes during weightlessness. They also collaborated with the Cuban Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases to examine blood and urine samples throughout the entire launch, stay, and return to explore the psychological stress from preparation and working long hours under constant weightlessness. Another experiment they conducted was centered around studying changes in the levels of skeletal muscle structure. They used a Cuban made instrument to assess the adipose tissue and the stimulation of body fat. There was also a study on blood circulation, which sought to determine the impact weightlessness has on the human circulatory system. Tests had been carried out in previous flights and were repeated during this mission using a Chibis suit, a below-the-waist reduced-pressure device. Crew members completed exercise protocols wearing the Chibis to provide gravity-simulating stress to the body's cardiovascular/circulatory system and re-establishing the body's orthostatic tolerance after extended periods of microgravity. Negative pressure on the legs causes blood to accumulate in the lower extremities, which is the case in a gravity environment. Orthostatic intolerance has been a frequent complaint in humans returning from long-duration space flights. The other experiments attempted to study how cell division, the immune system, concentrations of antibodies and other proteins and minerals were affected after prolonged exposure to a weightless environment. This included measurements into the amount and rate at which humans lost water, fat, and other minerals.The cosmonauts also studied the growth of a single crystal of sucrose in the same environment.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Soyuz 38

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Soyuz 38 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Soyuz 38 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Soyuz 38 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Soyuz 38

In research: Soyuz 38 appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Soyuz 38 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Soyuz 38 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1980 in Cuba, 1980 in the Soviet Union, Crewed Soyuz missions, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Soyuz 38 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Soyuz 38” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Soyuz 38 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Soyuz 38 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Soyuz 38 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Soyuz 38 in simple terms?

Why does Soyuz 38 matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Soyuz 38?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Soyuz 38.