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.
Mission | Launch date (UTC) | Time docked | Landing date (UTC) | Launch crew | Crew photo | Crew patch | Notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Soyuz T-15 | 13 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-2 | 5 February 1987 21:38:16 | ~172 days | 30 July 1987 01:04:12 | Yuri Romanenko Aleksandr Laveykin | Delivered the second crew, flying expedition EO-2, to Mir. | |||
3. | Soyuz TM-3 | 22 July 1987 01:59:17 | ~158 days | 29 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-4 | 21 December 1987 11:18:03 | ~177 days | 17 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-5 | 7 June 1988 14:03:13 | ~90 days | 7 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-6 | 29 August 1988 04:23:11 | ~112 days | 21 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-7 | 26 November 1988 15:49:34 | ~149 days | 27 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-8 | 5 September 1989 21:38:03 | ~165 days | 19 February 1990 04:36:18 | Aleksandr Viktorenko Aleksandr Serebrov | Delivered the EO-5 crew to Mir. | |||
9. | Soyuz TM-9 | 11 February 1990 06:16:00 | ~177 days | 9 August 1990 07:33:57 | Anatoly Solovyev Aleksandr Balandin | Delivered the EO-6 crew to Mir. | |||
10. | Soyuz TM-10 | 1 August 1990 09:32:21 | ~129 days | 10 December 1990 06:08:12 | Gennadi Manakov Gennady Strekalov | Delivered the EO-7 crew to Mir. | |||
11. | Soyuz TM-11 | 1 December 1990 08:13:32 | ~173 days | 26 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-12 | 18 May 1991 12:50:28 | ~142 days | 10 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-13 | 2 October 1991 05:59:38 | ~173 days | 25 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-14 | 17 March 1992 10:54:30 | ~143 days | 10 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-15 | 27 July 1992 06:08:42 | ~187 days | 1 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-16 | 24 January 1993 05:58:05 | ~177 days | 22 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-17 | 1 July 1993 14:32:58 | ~195 days | 14 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-18 | 8 January 1994 10:05:34 | ~180 days | 9 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-19 | 1 July 1994 12:24:50 | ~124 days | 4 November 1994 11:18:26 | Yuri Malenchenko Talgat Musabayev | Delivered the EO-16 crew to Mir. | |||
20. | Soyuz TM-20 | 3 October 1994 22:42:30 | ~166 days | 22 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-21 | 14 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 1995 | 4 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-22 | 3 September 1995 09:00:23 | ~177 days | 29 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 1995 | 3 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-23 | 21 February 1996 12:34:05 | ~192 days | 2 September 1996 07:41:40 | Yuri Onufrienko Yury Usachev | Delivered the EO-21 crew to Mir. | |||
26. | STS-76 | 22 March 1996 | 4 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-24 | 17 August 1996 13:18:03 | ~195 days | 2 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 1997 | 4 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-25 | 10 February 1997 14:09:30 | ~183 days | 14 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 1997 | 4 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-26 | 5 August 1997 15:35:54 | ~196 days | 19 February 1998 09:10:30 | Anatoly Solovyev Pavel Vinogradov | Delivered the EO-24 crew to Mir. | |||
33. | STS-86 | 27 September 1997 | 5 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 1998 | 4 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-27 | 29 January 1998 16:33:42 | ~206 days | 25 August 1998 05:24:44 | Talgat Musabayev Nikolai Budarin | Delivered the EO-25 crew to Mir. | |||
Léopold Eyharts | Eyharts returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-26 after 22 days. | ||||||||
36. | STS-91 | 2 June 1998 | 3 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-28 | 13 August 1998 09:43:11 | ~196 days | 28 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-29 | 20 February 1999 04:18:01 | ~186 days | 28 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 days | 16 June 2000 00:44 | Sergei Zalyotin Aleksandr Kaleri | Final human spaceflight to Mir. Delivered the last crew, flying EO-28. |