Soyuz 17 was a Soviet space mission launched on January 7, 1975. The spacecraft carried two cosmonauts, Georgy Dobrovolski and Viktor Patsayev, to the Salyut 4 space station. Their mission lasted 15 days, during which they conducted scientific experiments and performed maintenance tasks on the station. The crew successfully returned to Earth on January 22, 1975. Soyuz 17 was notable for its extended duration in space, contributing valuable data to the understanding of long-term human spaceflight. This mission was part of the broader Soyuz program, which aimed to develop human space exploration capabilities.