List of human spaceflights to Mir explained

Human spaceflights were vital to the operation of Mir, allowing crews and equipment to be carried to and from the space station. Mir was visited by a total of 39 crewed missions, comprising 30 Soyuz flights (1 Soyuz-T, 29 Soyuz-TM) and 9 Space Shuttle flights. These missions carried both long-duration crew members flying principal expeditions (ranging from 70 days up to Valeri Polyakov's 14-month stay beginning in January 1994, which still holds the record for the longest continuous spaceflight by a single person) and short-term visitors (who spent about a week aboard the station). Many of the crew who visited Mir used different spacecraft to launch than they did to land; the first such examples were Aleksandr Viktorenko and Muhammed Faris who flew up in Soyuz TM-3 (launched 22 July 1987) and landed a week later in Soyuz TM-2 on 30 July 1987. The largest crew aboard Mir simultaneously (not including Shuttle-Mir missions) was 6, which first occurred with the launch of Soyuz TM-7 on 26 November 1988 and lasted for just over three weeks.

In this list, uncrewed visiting spacecraft are excluded (see List of uncrewed spaceflights to Mir for details), and long-duration crew members are listed in bold. Times are given in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). "Time docked" refers to the spacecraft and does not necessarily correspond to the crew.

MissionLaunch date (UTC)Time dockedLanding date (UTC)Launch crewCrew photoCrew patchNotes
1.Soyuz T-1513 March 1986
12:33:09
~52 days
~20 days
16 July 1986
12:34:05
Leonid Kizim
Vladimir Solovyov
Delivered the first crew, flying expedition EO-1, to Mir, then undocked, flew to and docked with Salyut 7 before returning to Mir. Remains the only spacecraft to have visited two space stations during one mission.[1] [2]
2.Soyuz TM-25 February 1987
21:38:16
~172 days30 July 1987
01:04:12
Yuri Romanenko
Aleksandr Laveykin
Delivered the second crew, flying expedition EO-2, to Mir.
3.Soyuz TM-322 July 1987
01:59:17
~158 days29 December 1987
09:16:15
Aleksandr Aleksandrov
Aleksandr Viktorenko
Muhammed Faris
Delivered a third crew member, Aleksandrov, for EO-2, as well as the first Mir Intercosmos mission, EP-1, to the station. The EP-1 crew members, Viktorenko and Faris, returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-2 after 8 days.
4.Soyuz TM-421 December 1987
11:18:03
~177 days17 June 1988
10:12:32
Vladimir Titov
Musa Manarov
Anatoli Levchenko
Delivered the third expedition crew, EO-3, to Mir, in addition to Anatoli Levchenko, who returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-3 with the returning EO-2 crewmembers after 8 days.
5.Soyuz TM-57 June 1988
14:03:13
~90 days7 September 1988
00:49:38
Anatoly Solovyev
Viktor Savinykh
Aleksandr Aleksandrov
Delivered the second Mir Intercosmos mission, EP-2, to the station. All three crew returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-4 after 10 days.
6.Soyuz TM-629 August 1988
04:23:11
~112 days21 December 1988
09:57:00
Valeri Polyakov
Vladimir Lyakhov
Abdul Ahad Mohmand
Delivered a third crew member, Polyakov, for EO-3, in addition to the third Mir Intercosmos crew, EP-3, who returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-5 after 9 days.
7.Soyuz TM-726 November 1988
15:49:34
~149 days27 April 1989
02:57:58
Aleksandr Volkov
Sergei Krikalev
Jean-Loup Chrétien
Delivered the EO-4 and Aragatz crews to Mir, with Chrétien returning to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-6 after 25 days.
8.Soyuz TM-85 September 1989
21:38:03
~165 days19 February 1990
04:36:18
Aleksandr Viktorenko
Aleksandr Serebrov
Delivered the EO-5 crew to Mir.
9.Soyuz TM-911 February 1990
06:16:00
~177 days9 August 1990
07:33:57
Anatoly Solovyev
Aleksandr Balandin
Delivered the EO-6 crew to Mir.
10.Soyuz TM-101 August 1990
09:32:21
~129 days10 December 1990
06:08:12
Gennadi Manakov
Gennady Strekalov
Delivered the EO-7 crew to Mir.
11.Soyuz TM-111 December 1990
08:13:32
~173 days26 May 1991
10:04:13
Viktor Afanasyev
Musa Manarov
Toyohiro Akiyama
Delivered the EO-8 crew to Mir, in addition to the Japanese Kosmoreporter mission. Akiyama, who became the first Japanese citizen to fly in space, returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-10 after 8 days.
12.Soyuz TM-1218 May 1991
12:50:28
~142 days10 October 1991
04:12:18
Anatoly Artsebarsky
/ Sergei Krikalev
Helen Sharman
Delivered the EO-9 crew to Mir, in addition to the British Project Juno mission. Sharman, the first Briton to travel into space whilst not holding American citizenship, returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-11 after 8 days.
13.Soyuz TM-132 October 1991
05:59:38
~173 days25 March 1992
08:51:22

Toktar Aubakirov
Franz Viehböck
The last crewed spaceflight ever launched by the Soviet Union, Soyuz TM-13 delivered a third crew member to Mir for EO-10, in addition to carrying the first Austrian to go into space as part of the Austromir '91 mission. Aubakirov and Viehböck returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TMA-12 after 8 days.
14.Soyuz TM-1417 March 1992
10:54:30
~143 days10 August 1992
01:05:02
Aleksandr Viktorenko
Aleksandr Kaleri
Klaus-Dietrich Flade
The first crewed spaceflight to be launched by the Russian Federation, Soyuz TM-14 delivered the EO-11 crew to Mir, in addition to Flade, flying the German Mir '92 mission, who returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-13 after 8 days.
15.Soyuz TM-1527 July 1992
06:08:42
~187 days1 February 1993
03:49:57
Anatoly Solovyev
Sergei Avdeyev
Michel Tognini
Delivered the EO-12 crew to Mir, in addition to the French Antarès mission. Tognini returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-14 after 14 days.
16.Soyuz TM-1624 January 1993
05:58:05
~177 days22 July 1993
06:41:50
Gennadi Manakov
Aleksandr Poleshchuk
Delivered the EO-13 crew to Mir. Became the only Soyuz spacecraft to dock at Kristalls distal APAS-89 port in order to check the port in preparation for the Shuttle-Mir flights which followed.
17.Soyuz TM-171 July 1993
14:32:58
~195 days14 January 1994
08:18:20
Vasili Tsibliyev
Aleksandr Serebrov
Jean-Pierre Haigneré
Delivered the EO-14 crew to Mir, in addition to the French Altair mission. Haigneré returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-16 after 21 days.
18.Soyuz TM-188 January 1994
10:05:34
~180 days9 July 1994
10:32:35
Viktor Afanasyev
Yury Usachev
Valeri Polyakov
Delivered the EO-15 crew to Mir, with Polyakov remaining in space for over 437 days, the current world record for longest single spaceflight.
19.Soyuz TM-191 July 1994
12:24:50
~124 days4 November 1994
11:18:26
Yuri Malenchenko
Talgat Musabayev
Delivered the EO-16 crew to Mir.
20.Soyuz TM-203 October 1994
22:42:30
~166 days22 March 1995
04:04:05
Aleksandr Viktorenko
Yelena Kondakova
Ulf Merbold
Delivered the EO-17 crew to Mir, in addition to the German Euromir '94 mission. Merbold returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-19 after 32 days.
21.Soyuz TM-2114 March 1995
06:11:34
~179 days
06:52:40
Vladimir Dezhurov
Gennady Strekalov
Norman E. Thagard
Delivered the EO-18 crew to Mir, including Thagard, flying the first US long-duration mission of the Shuttle-Mir programme. The entire crew returned to Earth aboard at the conclusion of STS-71.
22.STS-71
27 June 19954 days, 22 hours Robert L. Gibson
Charles J. Precourt
Ellen S. Baker
Bonnie J. Dunbar
Gregory J. Harbaugh
Anatoly Solovyev
Nikolai Budarin
Delivered Mir EO-19 crew
Returned Mir EO-18 crew
23.Soyuz TM-223 September 1995
09:00:23
~177 days29 February 1996
10:42:08
Yuri Gidzenko
Sergei Avdeyev
Thomas Reiter
Delivered the EO-20 crew to Mir, including the German Euromir '95 mission.
24.STS-74
12 November 19953 days, 2 hours Kenneth D. Cameron
James D. Halsell
Jerry L. Ross
William S. McArthur
Chris A. Hadfield
Delivered Mir Docking Module & Solar Array Package
25.Soyuz TM-2321 February 1996
12:34:05
~192 days2 September 1996
07:41:40
Yuri Onufrienko
Yury Usachev
Delivered the EO-21 crew to Mir.
26.STS-76
22 March 19964 days, 23 hours Kevin P. Chilton
Richard A. Searfoss
Linda M. Godwin
Michael R. Clifford
Ronald M. Sega
Shannon W. Lucid
Delivered Lucid for Mir EO-21 crew
Deployed MEEP
1 spacewalk
27.Soyuz TM-2417 August 1996
13:18:03
~195 days2 March 1997
06:44:16
Valery Korzun
Aleksandr Kaleri
Claudie Haigneré
Delivered the EO-21 crew to Mir. Haigneré returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-23 after 16 days.
28.STS-79
4 days, 22 hours William F. Readdy
Terrence W. Wilcutt
Thomas D. Akers
Jerome Apt
Carl E. Walz
John E. Blaha
Delivered Blaha for Mir EO-22 crew
29.STS-81
12 January 19974 days, 22 hours Michael A. Baker
Brent W. Jett
John M. Grunsfeld
Marsha S. Ivins
Peter J.K. Wisoff
Jerry M. Linenger
Delivered Linenger for Mir EO-22 crew
30.Soyuz TM-2510 February 1997
14:09:30
~183 days14 August 1997
12:17:10
Vasili Tsibliyev
Aleksandr Lazutkin
Reinhold Ewald
Delivered the EO-23 crew to Mir. Ewald returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-24 after 20 days.
31.STS-84
15 May 19974 days, 23 hours Charles J. Precourt
Eileen M. Collins
Carlos I. Noriega
Edward T. Lu
Jean-François Clervoy
Yelena Kondakova
Michael Foale
Delivered Foale for Mir EO-23 crew
32.Soyuz TM-265 August 1997
15:35:54
~196 days19 February 1998
09:10:30
Anatoly Solovyev
Pavel Vinogradov
Delivered the EO-24 crew to Mir.
33.STS-86
27 September 19975 days, 22 hours James D. Wetherbee
Michael J. Bloomfield
Scott E. Parazynski
Wendy B. Lawrence
Jean-Loup Chrétien
Vladimir Titov
David A. Wolf
Delivered Wolf for Mir EO-24 crew
Retrieved MEEP
1 spacewalk
34.STS-89
22 January 19984 days, 21 hours Terrence W. Wilcutt
Joe F. Edwards
Bonnie J. Dunbar
Michael P. Anderson
James F. Reilly
Salizhan Sharipov
Andrew S.W. Thomas
Delivered Thomas for Mir EO-24 crew
35.Soyuz TM-2729 January 1998
16:33:42
~206 days25 August 1998
05:24:44
Talgat Musabayev
Nikolai Budarin
Delivered the EO-25 crew to Mir.
Léopold EyhartsEyharts returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-26 after 22 days.
36.STS-91
2 June 19983 days, 23 hours Charles J. Precourt
Dominic L. Pudwill Gorie
Wendy B. Lawrence
Franklin R. Chang-Diaz
Janet L. Kavandi
Valery Ryumin
Returned Thomas from Mir EO-25 crew
37.Soyuz TM-2813 August 1998
09:43:11
~196 days28 February 1999
02:14:30
Gennady Padalka
Sergei Avdeyev
Yuri Baturin
Delivered the EO-26 crew to Mir. Baturin returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-27 after 12 days.
38.Soyuz TM-2920 February 1999
04:18:01
~186 days28 August 1999
00:34:20
Viktor Afanasyev
Jean-Pierre Haigneré
Ivan Bella
Delivered the EO-27 crew to Mir. Bella returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-28 after 8 days.
39.4 April 2000
05:01:29
~70 days16 June 2000
00:44
Sergei Zalyotin
Aleksandr Kaleri
Final human spaceflight to Mir. Delivered the last crew, flying EO-28.

See also

References

Notes and References

  1. Book: David Harland. The Story of Space Station Mir. Springer-Verlag New York Inc. 30 November 2004. New York. 978-0-387-23011-5. registration.
  2. Book: Soyuz: A Universal Spacecraft. 2003. Springer-Praxis. 978-1-85233-657-8. Rex Hall & David Shayler.