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Description
Soyuz 17 Crew--Lt. Colonel Alexei Gubarev, accompanied by Flight Engineer Gregory Grechko, salutes prior to boarding the Soyuz 17 spacecraft early Saturday. The two rookie Soviet cosmonauts blasted off in the craft from the Baikonur Space Center in central Asia shortly after midnight and entered earth orbit. The Soviet news agency Tass announced Soyuz 17 will carry out "joint experiments with the research station Salyut 4," but did not specify whether the two ships would link up.
