Soyuz 38 was a crewed spaceflight mission launched on March 22, 1980, as part of the Soyuz program. The mission carried two cosmonauts, Yuri Malyshev and Mikhail L. Shatalov, to the Salyut 7 space station. The primary objective was to conduct scientific research and experiments in microgravity. The mission lasted for 7 days, during which the crew performed various tasks, including the testing of new equipment and conducting experiments in fields like biology and materials science. Soyuz 38 successfully returned to Earth on March 30, 1980, marking a significant achievement in Soviet space exploration.