change was to have a landing window open some two to three days earlier than otherwise. The crew on the station subsequently boarded the Soyuz 31 vehicle and redocked it to the forward port, thus freeing the aft port for a forthcoming Progress supply ship. They returned to Earth 2 November in the craft after setting a new space-endurance record of 139 days. References Crewed Soyuz missions 1978 in the Soviet Union East Germany–Soviet Union relations 1978 in East Germany Spacecraft launched in 1978 Spacecraft which reentered in 1978 Spacecraft launched by Soyuz-U rockets