Soyuz TM-6 | |||||||
Insignia: | Soyuz TM-6 patch.svg | ||||||
Cospar Id: | 1988-075A | ||||||
Satcat: | 19443 | ||||||
Mission Duration: | 114 days, 5 hours, 33 minutes, 49 seconds | ||||||
Orbits Completed: | ~1,840 | ||||||
Spacecraft: | Soyuz 7K-STM No. 56 | ||||||
Spacecraft Type: | Soyuz-TM | ||||||
Manufacturer: | NPO Energia | ||||||
Launch Mass: | 7070kg (15,590lb) | ||||||
Launch Date: | UTC[1] | ||||||
Launch Rocket: | Soyuz-U2 | ||||||
Launch Site: | Baikonur 1/5 | ||||||
Landing Date: | UTC | ||||||
Landing Site: | 160km (100miles) SE of Dzhezkazgan | ||||||
Crew Size: | 3 | ||||||
Crew Launching: | Vladimir Lyakhov Valeri Polyakov Abdul Mohmand | ||||||
Crew Landing: | Vladimir Titov Musa Manarov Jean-Loup Chrétien | ||||||
Crew Callsign: | Прото́н (Proton) | ||||||
Orbit Reference: | Geocentric | ||||||
Orbit Regime: | Low Earth | ||||||
Apsis: | gee | ||||||
Docking: |
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Previous Mission: | Soyuz TM-5 | ||||||
Next Mission: | Soyuz TM-7 | ||||||
Programme: | Soyuz programme (Crewed missions) |
Soyuz TM-6 was a crewed Soyuz spaceflight to Mir.[2] 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.[3]
On September 8, Soyuz TM-6 was undocked from Mirs Kvant port and redocked onto the Mir Base Block's port.[4] It remained there until December, when it brought Titov and Manarov of the EO-3 crew back to Earth. It also landed French astronaut Jean-Loup Chrétien, ending his 25-day-long spaceflight which started with Soyuz TM-7.
Valeri Polyakov remained behind on Mir with cosmonauts Musa Manarov and Vladimir Titov when Mohmand and Lyakhov returned to Earth in Soyuz TM-5.
The crew of Soyuz TM-6 had a unique makeup, with a commander (Vladimir Lyakhov) who had been trained to fly a Soyuz-TM solo in the event a rescue ship needed to be sent to recover two cosmonauts from Mir, no flight engineer, and two inexperienced cosmonaut-researchers. One was Valeri Polyakov, who would remain aboard Mir with Titov and Manarov to monitor their health during the final months of their planned year-long stay. The other was Intercosmos cosmonaut Abdul Ahad Mohmand, from Afghanistan.
7070 kg
195 km
228 km
51.6°
88.7 minutes