Soyuz TM-20

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Soyuz TM-20
Mission type Mir crew transport
Operator Rosaviakosmos
COSPAR ID 1994-063A OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
SATCAT no. 23288
Mission duration169 days, 5 hours, 21 minutes, 35 seconds
Orbits completed~2,760
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftSoyuz 7K-STM No.69 [1]
Spacecraft type Soyuz-TM
Manufacturer RKK Energia
Launch mass7,170 kilograms (15,810 lb)
Crew
Crew size3
Members Aleksandr Viktorenko
Yelena Kondakova
Launching Ulf Merbold
Landing Valeri Polyakov
CallsignВи́тязь (Vityaz' – Knight)
Start of mission
Launch dateOctober 3, 1994, 22:42:30 (1994-10-03UTC22:42:30Z) UTC [1]
Rocket Soyuz-U2
Launch site Baikonur 1/5
End of mission
Landing dateMarch 22, 1995, 04:04:05 (1995-03-22UTC04:04:06Z) UTC
Landing site 50°31′N67°21′E / 50.52°N 67.35°E / 50.52; 67.35
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Low Earth
Perigee altitude 392 kilometres (244 mi)
Apogee altitude 394 kilometres (245 mi)
Inclination 51.6 degrees
Period 92.42 minutes
Epoch 3 November 1994 [2]
Docking with Mir
Docking port Core forward
Docking date6 October 1994, 00:28:15 UTC
Undocking date22 March 1995, 00:43:08 UTC
Soyuz TM-20 patch.png
Soyuz programme
(Crewed missions)

Soyuz TM-20 was the twentieth expedition to the Russian Space Station Mir. It launched Russian cosmonauts Aleksandr Viktorenko, Yelena Kondakova, and German cosmonaut Ulf Merbold.

Contents

Mir as seen from Space Shuttle Discovery during STS-63, with Soyuz TM-20 seen at the top Mir as seen from Discovery during STS-63.jpg
Mir as seen from Space Shuttle Discovery during STS-63, with Soyuz TM-20 seen at the top

Crew

Position Launching crewLanding crew
Commander Flag of Russia.svg   Aleksandr Viktorenko
Fourth and last spaceflight
Flight Engineer Flag of Russia.svg   Yelena Kondakova
First spaceflight
Research Cosmonaut Flag of Germany.svg   Ulf Merbold
Third and last spaceflight
Flag of Russia.svg   Valeri Polyakov
Second and last spaceflight

Mission highlights

The flight carried 10 kg of equipment for use by Merbold in ESA's month-long Euromir 94 experiment program. During automatic approach to Mir's front port, the spacecraft yawed unexpectedly. Viktorenko completed a manual docking without additional incident.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  2. McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 9 November 2013.