The eighth expedition to the orbital station, the mission launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, atop a Soyuz-U2 carrier rocket, at 06:39:52 UTC on June 6, 1985.

[citation needed] The effort to salvage Salyut 7 was, in the words of author David S. F. Portree, "one of the most impressive feats of in-space repairs in history".

[4] As the crew approached the inert station, they saw that its solar arrays were pointing randomly as it rolled slowly about its long axis.

Dzhanibekov noted that the thermal blankets on the transfer compartment had turned a dull gray from prolonged exposure to sunlight.

[6] The cosmonauts set about recharging the batteries and used Soyuz T-13 to turn the station in order to point its solar arrays to the sun.

This was cause for jubilation, as it meant Kosmos 1669 (a Progress supply spacecraft) bearing replacement parts could dock with Salyut 7.