Mir EP-3

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Mir EP-3
Mission typeMir visiting crew
Mission duration8.85 days [1] (launch to landing)
Expedition
Space station Mir
Began29 August 1988 (1988-08-29)
Ended7 September 1988 (1988-09-08)
Arrived aboard Soyuz TM-6 [1]
Departed aboard Soyuz TM-5 [1]
Crew
Crew sizeTwo
Members Vladimir Lyakhov
Abdul Ahad Mohmand
CallsignProton
Mir Visiting Expeditions
←  EP-2
EP-4  →
 

Mir EP-3 was a week-long crewed spaceflight to the Soviet space station Mir, during the long-duration expedition Mir EO-3. It was the sixth crewed spaceflight to Mir, and was launched with the spacecraft Soyuz TM-6. This spacecraft also carried Valeri Polyakov, who would stay aboard Mir after the crew of EP-3 returned to Earth in Soyuz TM-5. The crew of EP-3, also known as the Soyuz TM-6 crew, consisted of Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Lyakhov as commander, and the first Afghan to visit space, Abdul Ahad Mohmand.

Contents

Background

The nine-year Soviet–Afghan War was coming to a close, with the final troop withdrawal starting in May 1988. It was decided by the Glavcosmos chairman that the Afghan's spaceflight would be moved earlier than originally planned, so that it would occur before the Soviet military completed their withdrawal from Afghanistan. [2]

Crew

PositionNameSpaceflightLaunchLandingDurationNotes
Commander Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Vladimir Lyakhov Third29 August 1988
Soyuz TM-6 		7 September 1988
Soyuz TM-5 		8.8 days
Flight Engineer Flag of Afghanistan (1987-1992).svg Abdul Ahad Mohmand FirstFirst Afghan cosmonaut

Lyakhov had been on two spaceflight before, both of which were long-duration missions. The first was launched and landed with the spacecraft Soyuz 32, and lasted for 175 days; it was the third long-duration expedition on the space station Salyut 6, called Salyut 6 EO-3. His second spaceflight was launched and landed with the spacecraft Soyuz T-9, and lasted for 145 days; it was the second long-duration expedition aboard the space station Salyut 7, which was called Salyut 7 EO-2.

Mission highlights

Mohmand's main objective was to photograph and make observations of Afghanistan from space. These photographs would be used to map the country's inaccessible mountainous regions, assess water and glacial run-off, as well as to find possible sources of oil and gas in lowland regions. [2]

Problems during descent

Lhakhov and Mohmand depart Mir on 6 September in Soyuz TM-5. Even though the TM-5 spacecraft had only been launched a few months earlier, for Mir EP-2, it was thought to be better to leave the resident crew with the most recent Soyuz spacecraft. [2]

During descent they suffered a computer software problem combined with a sensor problem. The deorbit engine on the TM-5 spacecraft which was to propel them into atmospheric reentry, did not behave as expected. During an attempted burn, the computer shut off the engines prematurely, believing the spacecraft was out of alignment. [2] Lyakhov determined that they were not, in fact, out of alignment, and asserted that the problem was caused by conflicting signals picked up by the alignment sensors caused by solar glare. [2] With the problem apparently solved, the engines were restarted two orbits later but soon shut off again. The flight director decided that they would have to remain in orbit an extra day (a full revolution of the Earth), so they could determine what the problem was. During this time it was realised that during the second attempted engine burn, the computer had tried to execute the program which was used to dock with Mir several months earlier during EP-2. [2] After reprogramming the computer, the next attempt was successful, and the crew safely landed on 7 September. [3]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salyut 6</span> Former Soviet orbital space station

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soyuz TM-2</span> 1987 Soviet crewed spaceflight to Mir

Soyuz TM-2 was a crewed spaceflight to the Soviet space station Mir, which was uncrewed at the time. TM-2 was launched on February 5, 1987, and it was first crewed spaceflight of the Soyuz-TM spacecraft, and the second crewed spaceflight to Mir. The crew of the long duration expedition, Mir EO-2, who were launched by TM-2 consisted of Soviet cosmonauts Yuri Romanenko and Aleksandr Laveykin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soyuz TM-3</span> 1987 Soviet crewed spaceflight to Mir

Soyuz TM-3 was the third crewed spaceflight to visit the Soviet space station Mir, following Soyuz T-15 and Soyuz TM-2. It was launched in July 1987, during the long duration expedition Mir EO-2, and acted as a lifeboat for the second segment of that expedition. There were three people aboard the spacecraft at launch, including the two man crew of the week-long mission Mir EP-1, consisting of Soviet cosmonaut Aleksandr Viktorenko and Syrian Muhammed Faris. Faris was the first Syrian to travel to space, and as of June 2021, the only one. The third cosmonaut launched was Aleksandr Aleksandrov, who would replace one of the long duration crew members Aleksandr Laveykin of Mir EO-2. Laveykin had been diagnosed by ground-based doctors to have minor heart problems, so he returned to Earth with the EP-1 crew in Soyuz TM-2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soyuz TM-4</span> 1987 Soviet crewed spaceflight to Mir

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soyuz TM-5</span> 1988 Soviet crewed spaceflight to Mir

Soyuz TM-5 was a crewed Soyuz spaceflight to Mir. It was launched on June 7, 1988, carrying the Mir EP-2 mission's three-person crew. This week-long stay on Mir occurred during the third long-duration Mir expedition, Mir EO-3. The crew of EP-2 returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-4, while the TM-5 spacecraft remained docked to Mir, acting as the lifeboat for the long-duration crew. On September 7, 1988, the TM-5 spacecraft undocked from Mir, and landed Mir EP-3 mission's two-person visiting crew. The de-orbit procedures for Soyuz were revised after this flight, as multiple issues almost prevented the descent module's safe de-orbit and landing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soyuz TM-6</span> 1988 Soviet crewed spaceflight to Mir

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soyuz TM-8</span> 1989 Soviet crewed spaceflight to Mir

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Mir EO-5 was the 5th long duration expedition to the space station Mir, which lasted from September 1989 to February 1990. The two person crew was launched and landed in the spacecraft Soyuz TM-8, which remained docked to Mir throughout the mission. The crew are often referred to as the Soyuz TM-8 crew.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mir EO-2</span> Second expedition to Mir space station

Mir EO-2 was the second long duration expedition to the Soviet space station Mir, and it lasted from February to December 1987. The mission was divided into two parts, the division occurring when one of the two crew members, Aleksandr Laveykin, was replaced part way through the mission by Aleksandr Aleksandrov. Laveykin was replaced because ground-based doctors had diagnosed him with minor heart problems.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Mir EP-3". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 29 November 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 David Michael Harland (February 2005). The story of Space Station Mir. Springer-Verlag. pp.  424. ISBN   0-387-23011-4.
  3. ↑ Tim Furniss; David Shayler; Michael Derek Shayler (February 2007). Praxis manned spaceflight log 1961-2006 . Praxis Publishing. pp.  836. ISBN   978-0-387-34175-0.
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