The launch was on 19 April 1971 on a Proton K rocket. Two days later the first crew was also launched on a Soyuz rocket. They were supposed to stay for 30 days at the station. This did not happen as there was a problem in docking (connecting) their spacecraft to the station. After trying for 5.5 hours, they had to return to Earth. A second crew (Soyuz 11) was sent on 6 June 1971 and was able to enter. At first the mission went well. But due to problems on the station they could only stay 23 days of the planned 30. Their stay was the longest any people had spent in space at that time. While at the station they did experiments to help scientists understand life in space. The crew of Soyuz 11 died during re-entry of the atmosphere when their air escaped. No other spacecraft visited the station. Salyut 1 was de-orbited (removed from space) on 11 October 1971. The engines were used to lower the orbit so it would burn up in the atmosphere. 