April 1981 - April 25, 1981 (Saturday)

April 25, 1981 (Saturday)

• The Soviet Union launched Kosmos 1267 to carry the unmanned TKS spacecraft, a vehicle that could provide a space ferry to bring back returning cosmonauts, as well as providing an additional component to an orbiting space station. The TKS module would remain in orbit until it docked automatically to Salyut 6 on June 19, as the first successful expansion of an orbiting craft, an accomplishment described as "an important step toward the later development of Mir and the International Space Station. Once docked, the engines of the Kosmos were used to make orbital changes for the Salyut station. On July 29, 1982, the engines were used one final time to bring both modules out of orbit, where they burned up over the Pacific Ocean.
• Born: Anja Pärson, Swedish women's alpine skiing champion, in Umeå; and Wojciech Kasperski, Polish filmmaker, in Kartuzy