Mir was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. Mir was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to 1996. It had a greater mass than any previous spacecraft. At the time it was the largest artificial satellite in orbit, succeeded by the International Space Station (ISS) after Mir's orbit decayed. The station served as a microgravity research laboratory in which crews conducted experiments in biology, human biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology, and spacecraft systems with a goal of developing technologies required for permanent occupation of space.
Anatoly Yakovlevich Solovyev is a retired Russian and Soviet cosmonaut and pilot. Solovyev was born on January 16, 1948, in Riga, Latvia. Solovyev holds the world record on the number of spacewalks performed (16), and accumulated time spent spacewalking.
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.
Soyuz TM-4 was a crewed Soyuz spaceflight to Mir. It was launched on 21 December 1987, and carried the first two crew members of the third long duration expedition, Mir EO-3. These crew members, Vladimir Titov and Musa Manarov, would stay in space for just under 366 days, setting a new spaceflight record. The third astronaut launched by Soyuz TM-4 was Anatoli Levchenko, who returned to Earth about a week later with the remaining crew of Mir EO-2. Levchenko was a prospective pilot for the Soviet Space shuttle Buran. The purpose of his mission, named Mir LII-1, was to familiarize him with spaceflight.
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.
Soyuz TM-6 was a crewed Soyuz spaceflight to Mir. It was launched on 29 August 1988, at 04:23:11 UTC, for the station's third long-duration expedition, Mir EO-3. The three-person crew that was launched consisted of Research Doctor Valeri Polyakov, who became part of the EO-3 crew, as well as the two crew members of the week-long mission Mir EP-3, which included the first ever Afghan cosmonaut, Abdul Ahad Mohmand.
Soyuz TM-7 was a crewed Soyuz spaceflight to Mir. It launched on 26 November 1988, at 15:49:34, and was the start of the fourth long duration expedition to Mir, Mir EO-4. The crew would join the third crew member of EO-4, cosmonaut/physician Valeri Polyakov, who was on Mir for the second half of EO-3. Also launched by Soyuz TM-7 was French astronaut Jean-Loup Chrétien, who would take part in the 24-day French mission known as Mir Aragatz. The spacecraft Soyuz TM-7 remained docked to Mir for the duration of EO-4. At the end of EO-4 in April 1989, due to delays in the launch schedule, Mir was left uncrewed, and all three EO-4 crew members were transported back to Earth.
Soyuz TM-8 was a 1989 spaceflight which carried the fifth long duration crew to the Soviet space station Mir. It was part of the Soyuz-TM series of spacecraft, which were the fourth generation of the Soviet Soyuz. Soyuz TM-8 was the eighth crewed spaceflight to Mir, and spent 166 days in orbit.
Aleksandr Pavlovich Aleksandrov is a former Soviet cosmonaut and twice Hero of the Soviet Union.
Aleksandr Ivanovich Laveykin is a retired Soviet cosmonaut.
Expedition 2 was the second long-duration spaceflight aboard the International Space Station, immediately following Expedition 1. Its three-person crew stayed aboard the station from March to August 2001. In addition to station maintenance, the crew assisted in several station assembly missions, welcomed the first space tourist Dennis Tito, and conducted some scientific experiments.
Mir EO-3 was an expedition to the space station Mir. The crew consisted of 3 people, Musa Manarov (Commander), Vladimir Titov and Valeri Polyakov. Manarov and Titov arrived at the station in December 1987 on Soyuz TM-4, while Polyakov arrived much later, in August 1988 on Soyuz TM-6. After the arrival of Polyakov, medical experiments became more intensive.
Mir EO-4 was the fourth long-duration expedition to the Soviet space station Mir. The expedition began in November 1988, when crew members Commander Aleksandr Volkov and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev arrived at the station via the spacecraft Soyuz TM-7. The third crew member of EO-4, Valeri Polyakov, was already aboard Mir, having arrived in August 1988 part way through the previous expedition, Mir EO-3.
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.
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.
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.
Mir EP-2 was a visiting expedition to the Mir space station conducted in June 1988 by cosmonauts Anatoly Solovyev, Viktor Savinykh and Aleksandr Aleksandrov. Launched aboard the Soyuz TM-5 spacecraft, the crew spent ten days in space before returning to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-4. The mission occurred while the EO-3 crew were aboard Mir.
Mir EO-19 was the nineteenth crewed expedition to the space station Mir, lasting from June to September 1995. The crew, consisting of Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Solovyev and Nikolai Budarin, launched on June 27, 1995 aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis on the STS-71 mission. After remaining aboard Mir for approximately 75 days, Solovyev and Budarin returned aboard the Soyuz TM-21 spacecraft on September 11, 1995.
Mir EO-8 was the eighth crewed expedition to the space station Mir, lasting from December 1990 to May 1991. The crew, consisting of Russian cosmonauts Viktor Afanasyev and Musa Manarov, launched along with space journalist Toyohiro Akiyama on December 2, 1990 aboard Soyuz TM-11. Akiyama returned aboard Soyuz TM-10 with the outgoing Mir EO-7 crew on December 10. Afanasyev and Manarov returned aboard Soyuz TM-11 on May 26, 1991.
