Soyuz TM-21 was a crewed Soyuz spaceflight to Mir. The mission launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, atop a Soyuz-U2 carrier rocket, at 06:11:34 UTC on 14 March 1995. The flight marked the first time thirteen humans were flying in space simultaneously, with three aboard the Soyuz, three aboard Mir and seven aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour, flying STS-67. The spacecraft carried expedition EO-18 to the space station. This included the first American astronaut to launch on a Soyuz spacecraft and board Mir, Norman Thagard, for the American Thagard Increment aboard the station, which was the first Increment of the Shuttle-Mir program. The three crew members it launched were relieved by Space Shuttle Atlantis during STS-71, when they were replaced by expedition EO-19. The crew returned to earth aboard Soyuz TM-21 on 11 September 1995.
Crew
Mir Principal Expedition 18 The major objectives of the Mir 18 mission were to conduct joint U.S.-Russian medical research and weightlessness effects investigations and to reconfigure the station for the arrival of the Spektr science module and the Space Shuttle Atlantis. The historic mission saw the addition of the first new module (Spektr) since Kristall arrived in 1990, the first American (Thagard) to be part of a Mir crew, and the first docking of a U.S. spacecraft with the Mir space station.
March 1995 – Mir 18 Arrives/Mir 17 Departs
Progress M-26 Undocks for Soyuz TM-21 to Dock Progress M-26 separated from the complex on 15 March and made a destructive reentry into the Earth's atmosphere to clear the Kvant docking port for the new Soyuz. Soyuz TM-21 docked by automatic control at the Kvant docking port on the first try at 7:45 UTC on 16 March. The new arrivals were greeted by the Mir 17 crew with the traditional Russian gifts of salt and bread, and shortly thereafter were congratulated on a successful docking and transfer by Russian Space Agency (RSA) Director General Yuri Koptev and NASA Associate Administrator Wayne Littles. The crew spent much of the day transferring equipment and supplies from Soyuz to Mir. Norman Thagard spoke with STS-67 Commander Steve Oswald in a radio hookup, exchanging congratulations on their respective flights and discussing the symbolic importance of Thagard's venture as the first American to visit Mir. On 17 March, Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin stopped by the TsUP to congratulate the crew. Later, in a televised communication with ground controllers, Thagard said he hoped his visit to Mir would be the start of long-term space cooperation between the two nations. He and Polyakov agreed that the present joint research might be the foundation for ultimate joint flights to Mars. During the next few days, the Mir 18 crew took their body mass measurements as a baseline for investigations throughout the mission and were briefed by the Mir 17 crew on the status of the complex and ongoing studies. The outgoing crew stowed equipment and experiment samples in Soyuz TM-20 for their return and checked out the vehicle systems.
Mir 17 Mission Ends Aleksandr Viktorenko, Yelena Kondakova and Valeri Polyakov entered Soyuz TM-20 on 21 March and departed from Mir on 22 March, landing safely on the same day about 50 km from Arkalyk, Kazakhstan. Polyakov had set a new record for spaceflight duration: he had been on Mir since 8 January 1994 for 438 straight days. This trip, added to his Mir stay in 1988, brought his total days in space to 679. He was, however, strong enough to walk to the chairs that rescue crews provided for the cosmonauts' transport to a field hospital. He said his fit condition was a positive indication that humans could withstand a trip to Mars.
Mir 18 Crew On Their Own The Mir 18 crew settled into their daily routine, collecting body fluid samples for the seven metabolic experiments to be performed during their mission. They also took air and water samples for four hygiene, sanitation and radiation experiments which would determine the role of the Mir environment in human health, safety and efficiency. Each crewman spent time in a Chibis suit for measurement of cardiovascular system responses to lower body negative pressure. In the absence of gravity, blood pools in the upper torso and head, causing cardiovascular deconditioning. The Chibis suit sealed at the waist and incrementally induced a partial vacuum, or negative pressure, which drew body fluids back to the lower extremities. Dezhurov and Strekalov also changed out a condenser in the air conditioning system, part of a long-term maintenance program to prolong the life of the station.
April 1995 – Resupply and Maintenance
Progress M-27 Resupplies Mir Progress M-27 was launched from Baikonur on 9 April. It docked with the Mir base block on 11 April at 21:00 UTC under flawless control by the automatic Kurs system, although Dezhurov was ready to take over by manual control if Kurs malfunctions recurred. This Progress module carried with it a Raduga return capsule.
Cosmonautics Day Observed on 12 April On the 34th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight in a Vostock capsule, the Mir crew had a light schedule for Cosmonautics Day, a Russian national holiday. Activities included press conferences through the Russian and U.S. mission control centers.
Progress Unloaded On 13 April, the crew began unloading the Progress cargo of food, water, fuel, repair materials for life support systems and equipment for medical and environmental research. Among the biological experiments were some Japanese quail eggs. These, the crew put into an incubator on 14 April. Progress M-27 also brought a new international experiment in the form of GFZ-1, a spherical satellite with a mass of 20 kg and a diameter of 21 cm. The German satellite was built by the German firm Kayser-Threde. Geoforschungszentrum Potsdam would coordinate the satellite's transmission of geodetic measurements by means of laser reflection to about 25 observatories around the globe. GFZ-1 was successfully launched by the Mir crew from the base block airlock on 19 April. Two days before, the crew had launched a container with garbage as a practice run for the operation.
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