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Soyuz
Flight Details 8
Soyuz TM-23 (Mir 21)Mission Statistics:
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Mission Highlights: The two Russian cosmonauts, joined on 03/22/96 by U.S. astronaut Shannon Lucid (STS-76), conducted the 21st long-duration mission aboard the Mir space station. They conducted a wide range of life science, materials processing, Earth observation, and space science experiments, including some brought to Mir by the space shuttle. Cosmonauts Onufrienko and Usachev conducted two spacewalks in May 1996 to attach and deploy a U.S.-built solar panel to Mir. They returned to Earth on 09/02/96, after 194 days aboard Mir. Astronaut Lucid remained aboard Mir a total of 188 days, returning to Earth aboard STS-79.
Soyuz TM-24 (Mir 22)Mission Statistics:
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Mission Highlights: The original crew of Soyuz TM-24 included the first female French cosmonaut. The Soyuz spacecraft docked with Mir on 8/19/96. The two Russian cosmonauts replaced the Russian members of the Mir 21 crew for a 6-month stay on the station. French cosmonaut Andre-Deshays stayed aboard Mir for 16 days, returning with the Mir 21 crew on 9/2/96. American astronaut John Blaha joined the Mir 22 crew when the STS-79 mission launched on 09/16/96. In late November, cosmonauts Korzun and Kaleri performed two spacewalks to attach power cables to a new solar array that was previously attached to the station and to mount an antenna that will allow future Soyuz and Progress craft to more easily dock with Mir. Korzun and Kaleri returned to Earth in early March 1997, being replaced by the Soyuz TM-25/Mir 23 crew.
Soyuz TM-25 (Mir 23)Mission Statistics:
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EVA's:
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Mission Highlights: The Mir 23 cosmonauts joined the Mir 22 crew, including U.S. astronaut Jerry Linenger (STS-81), aboard Mir on 02/10/97. After a few weeks of transition work, the Mir 22 cosmonauts returned to Earth with German cosmonaut Reinhold Ewald. Astronaut Linenger remained aboard Mir as part of the Mir 23 crew. Despite a flash fire in an experimental instrument and mechanical problems with oxygen regeneration units aboard the station during March 1997, the long-duration mission continued. On 04/29/97, Cosmonaut Tsibliev and Astronaut Linenger performed a 5-hour plus spacewalk from the Mir station to retrieve 2 experiment packages from the exterior of Mir and to place 2 new experiments. This spacewalk marked the first time an American astronaut had donned a Russian EVA suit. Linenger was replaced on the Mir 23 crew by U.S. astronaut Michael Foale in May 1997. On 06/25/97, Mir suffered a near-tragic accident when an unmanned Progress supply craft went out of control while docking with Mir and crashed into the Spektr module, severly damaging it and its solar arrays, including rupturing Spektr's hull and causing an oxygen leak. The two Russian and one American occupants of Mir quickly closed the hatch to Spektr to prevent the loss of oxygen in the rest of the space station. More problems intermittently plagued the Mir 23 crew, culminating in the cancellation of a planned spacewalk, inside the damaged and airless Spektr module, to try to make repairs to critically needed solar panels. An irregular heartbeat prevented him from participating in the planned spacewalk, and Russian and American space officials eventually agreed to wait for the Mir 24 crew, which arrived at Mir on 08/07/97, to perform the repairs. The Mir 23 crew returned to Earth on 08/14/97.
Soyuz TM-26 (Mir 24)Mission Statistics:
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Mission Highlights: The main mission of the Mir 24 crew, along with U.S. Astronaut Michael Foale, was to repair the Mir space station, which was severely damaged during a Progress docking accident on 06/25/97. The two cosmonauts made a very difficult and dangerous "spacewalk" in side the damaged and airless Spektr module on 08/22/97 to reattach power cables from the Spektr module's solar panels to the rest of Mir. Cosmonaut Solovyev and astronaut Foale made a 6-hour spacewalk on 09/06/97 to try to locate the holes in the Spektr module from which the module's oxygen had escaped after the June accident. But the punctures in Spektr's skin remained elusive. A 6-hour internal spacewalk was conducted by the Russian cosmonauts on 10/20/97 to try to reconnect and reactivate the damaged solar panels on the Spektr module. However, the solar panels remained non-operations. U.S. Astronaut David Wolf replaced Michael Foale aboard Mir on 09/27/97 during the mission of STS-86. In two more external spacewalks, the Russian cosmonauts (on 11/03/97) dismantled the damaged solar array on the Spektre module and (on 11/06/97) installed a new solar array to the Kvant module. Further spacewalks were made, by the two Russian cosmonauts (on 01/09/98) and by cosmonaut Solovyev and astronaut Wolf (on 01/14/98) to inspect a leaking hatch on Mir and to retrieve experiment packages on the exterior of Mir. Solovyev and Vinograd returned to Earth on 2/19/98 along with Soyuz TM-27's French cosmonaut Leopold Eyharts.
Soyuz TM-27 (Mir 25)Mission Statistics:
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Mission Highlights: Joined by STS-89 astronaut Andrew Thomas, the Russian cosmonaut crew settled in for another long-duration mission aboard Mir. French cosmonaut Eyharts conducted a variety of space science experiments during his 3 weeks aboard Mir and returned to Earth with the departing Soyuz TM-26/Mir 24 crew. A planned space walk on 03/03/98 had to be aborted when a bolt on Mir's airlock hatch refused to open. However, cosmonauts Musabayex and Budarin performed a series of spacewalks to make repairs to Mir. On 04/01 and 04/06, they attached braces to the damaged solar array on the Spekty module. And on, 04/11, 04/17, and 04/22, they replaced an attitude control system that was located at the top of a 50-foot tower attached to the Mir station. U.S. astronaut Andrew Thomas supported the spacewalking cosmonauts from inside Mir. Thomas returned to Earth with the STS-91 crew in June 1998.
Soyuz TM-28 (Mir 26)Mission Statistics:
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Mission Highlights: The two long-duration cosmonauts performed a 6-hour space walk on 11/10/98 to install a French meteroid collection device to the outside of Mir, hand launch a small amateur radio satellite, and retrieve several Russian experiments that had been attached to Mir's exterior during space walks by previous crews. Cosmonaut Baturin returned to Earth with the Soyuz TM-27/Mir 25 crew on 08/25/98. During February 1999, Cosmonauts Padalka and Avdeyev were to deploy an experimental 83-foot space mirror called Znamya (Banner) that could be used to reflect light from the sun to areas of the Earth that do not receive much natural sunlight. A similar experiment in 1993 was only partially successful. Cosmonaut Gennadi Padalka returned to Earth on 02/28/99 with Slovakian cosmonaut Ivan Bella of the Soyuz TM-29 crew. Cosmonaut Sergei Aydeyev remained aboard Mir with the other two Soyuz TM-29 (Mir 27) crew members and returned to Earth on 08/28/99, after more than a year in space.
Soyuz TM-29 (Mir 27)Mission Statistics:
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Mission Highlights: This was the last in a series of Franco-Russian missions that began in 1982 and also the last manned mission to the Russian Mir space station, which is to be deorbited by the end of 1999. On-board work included physics, materials processing, physiological, and astronomy experiments. In April 1999, cosmonaut Afanasyev and French astronaut Haignere conducted a 6 hour 19 minute space walk to recover and install several French and Russian experiments to the exterior of Mir. On 07/28/99, the two Russian cosmonauts (Afanasyev and Avdeyev) successfully completed a 5 hour 22 minute spacewalk to again try to extend a new reflector antenna that stubbornly refused to deploy during another spacewalk a week earlier. The cosmonauts also installed several experiment packages to the outside of Mir during the spacewalk. Mir 27 cosmonauts Afanasyev and Haignere returned to Earth on 08/28/99, along with cosmonaut Avdeyev from the Mir 26 crew, who spent over a year aboard Mir.
Soyuz TM-30 (Mir 28)Mission Statistics:
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Mission Highlights: The purpose of this mission was to reactivate the Mir under contract with MirCorp, a private concern that plans to use Mir for commercial purposes. The Soyuz crew returned to Earth on 06/16/2000.
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