Mir EO-19
Encyclopedia
Mir EO-19 was the nineteenth manned expedition to the space station
Mir
, lasting from June to September 1995. The crew, consisting of Russia
n 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.
EO-19 lasted just under three months and was the only complete all-Russian crewed expedition to Mir in 1995 and was the first Mir expedition launched on an American Space Shuttle
. The mission that launched EO-19, STS-71, was the first Space Shuttle docking to Mir.
Antatoly Solovyev served as a crew member on three spaceflights prior to EO-19: Mir EP-2, Soyuz TM-9
, and Soyuz TM-15
. This flight was his first aboard a Space Shuttle, with his three previous flights being on the Soyuz. EO-19 was the first spaceflight for Nikolai Budarin, who completed his cosmonaut training in 1991 and completed specialized training on the systems of Mir and the Soyuz-TM
spacecraft in 1993.
Both spent just over 75 days in space during EO-19 and completed 1194 orbits of the Earth.
Atlantis on June 27, 1995 as part of the STS-71 mission. STS-71 was the first docking of a Space Shuttle to the Mir space station and the first docking of an American and Russian spacecraft in 20 years.
STS-71 docked with Mir on June 29 and performed a crew exchange between the EO-19 and EO-18 crews aboard the space station. The crews of EO-18, EO-19, and STS-71 performed a ceremony inside Spacelab
aboard Atlantis during which the ten crew members assembled a commemorative pewter
medallion
and exchanged gifts. Shortly thereafter, the crews began transferring supplies and tools to Mir from Atlantis.
On July 4, The newly-arrived crew of EO-19 undocked temporarily from the station aboard Soyuz TM-21 to observe and photograph the departure of the STS-71 and EO-18 crews aboard Atlantis. TM-21 undocked at 10:55 GMT, followed by STS-71 at 11:09:45 GMT. The EO-19 crew redocked aboard TM-21 at 11:39 GMT as Atlantis conducted a fly-around of the station. Atlantis, carrying the crews of EO-18 and STS-71, landed on July 7 after several more days in Earth orbit.
, or spacewalk, on July 14. Before the mission, the crew had trained to use special tools in order to release a stuck solar array on the exterior of the Spektr
module.
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During the spacewalk, the pair cut a problematic restraint from the solar array. All but one section of the array deployed successfully. They then proceeded to inspect a docking mechanism in preparation for the relocation of the Kristall
module. The final task of the spacewalk was to inspect a solar array on Kristall that was not tracking the Sun properly. The excursion ended after five hours and thirty-four minutes outside the station.
The crew relocated the Kristall module to another docking port from the port intended for use by Progress M-28 on July 17 using its Lyappa manipulator arm. This operation was performed in preparation for the next docking of Space Shuttle Atlantis to the station on the STS-74
mission later in the year.
During the mission's second spacewalk on July 19, the crew were to deploy a 220 kilogram Belgian-French spectrometer
, named MIRAS (Mir infrared spectrometer) on the Spektr module. Following a malfunction in Anatoly Solovyev's Orlan space suit minutes into the excursion, mission control directed him to remain attached to the Kvant-2
module via umbilical cable
. Despite this setback, Nikolai Budarin was able to perform several tasks alone, including preparatory work for the installment of MIRAS and retrieval of an American cosmic ray
detector, TREK. The crew returned to the airlock after three hours and eight minutes. Upon returning to the airlock, the crew discovered a 2 mm (0.078740157480315 in) gap in the seal, which created difficulty in sealing the hatch.
July 20 saw the launch of the Progress M-28 resupply ship to the station, which docked on July 22. The Progress-M
spacecraft remained docked to the station until September 4, when it undocked from Mir filled with waste and excess equipment and intentionally burned up on reentry
.
During the mission's third and final spacewalk on July 21, the two cosmonauts made a second attempt at installing the MIRAS spectrometer, which they completed without any major problems. The spacewalk lasted five hours and thirty-five minutes.
During the later part of their mission in August, the crew focused on completing experiments and doing research in the areas of astrophysics
, life sciences
, and smelting
. The remainder of the crew's activities during this time consisted of unloading the newly arrived Progress cargo ship and monitoring its automated refueling of the station's core module
.
and Sergei Avdeyev
, as well as ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter
conducting Euromir '95, launched on September 3 at 9:00 GMT aboard Soyuz TM-22
. The crew of EO-20 docked with the station on September 5 at 10:29:54 GMT, with hatch opening occurring at 11:01:23.
After transferring command of Mir to EO-20, the crew of EO-19 boarded the Soyuz TM-21 spacecraft, which arrived with the crew of Mir EO-18 in March 1995, on September 11 and undocked from the Kvant-1
module at 3:30:44 GMT. Soyuz TM-21, along with cosmonauts Solovyev and Budarin, subsequently landed at 6:52:40 GMT about 108 km (67.1 mi) Northeast of Arkalyk
, Kazakhstan
.
Space station
A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a crew which is designed to remain in space for an extended period of time, and to which other spacecraft can dock. A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by its lack of major propulsion or landing...
Mir
Mir
Mir was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, at first by the Soviet Union and then by Russia. Assembled in orbit from 1986 to 1996, Mir was the first modular space station and had a greater mass than that of any previous spacecraft, holding the record for the...
, lasting from June to September 1995. The crew, consisting of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n cosmonauts
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
Anatoly Solovyev
Anatoly Solovyev
Anatoly Yakovlevich Solovyev is a former Soviet pilot, cosmonaut, and Colonel. Solovyev holds the world record on the number of spacewalks performed , and accumulated time spent spacewalking .- Family :...
and Nikolai Budarin
Nikolai Budarin
Nikolai Mikhailovich Budarin is a Russian cosmonaut, a veteran of three extended space missions aboard the Mir Space Station and the International Space Station...
, launched on June 27, 1995 aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
on the STS-71
STS-71
STS-71 was the third mission of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir Program, which carried out the first Space Shuttle docking to Mir, a Russian space station. The mission used Space Shuttle Atlantis, which lifted off from launch pad 39A on 27 June 1995 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida...
mission. After remaining aboard Mir for approximately 75 days, Solovyev and Budarin returned aboard the Soyuz TM-21
Soyuz TM-21
Soyuz TM-21 was Soyuz mission, a human spaceflight mission transporting personnel to the Russian space station Mir. Part of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir Program, the mission launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, atop a Soyuz-U2 carrier rocket, at 06:11:34 UTC on March 14, 1995...
spacecraft on September 11, 1995.
EO-19 lasted just under three months and was the only complete all-Russian crewed expedition to Mir in 1995 and was the first Mir expedition launched on an American Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
. The mission that launched EO-19, STS-71, was the first Space Shuttle docking to Mir.
Crew
| Mir EO-19 | Name | Spaceflight | Launch | Landing | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commander |  Anatoly SolovyevAnatoly Solovyev Anatoly Yakovlevich Solovyev is a former Soviet pilot, cosmonaut, and Colonel. Solovyev holds the world record on the number of spacewalks performed , and accumulated time spent spacewalking .- Family :... |
Fourth | 27 June 1995 STS-71 STS-71 STS-71 was the third mission of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir Program, which carried out the first Space Shuttle docking to Mir, a Russian space station. The mission used Space Shuttle Atlantis, which lifted off from launch pad 39A on 27 June 1995 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida... |
11 September 1995 Soyuz TM-21 Soyuz TM-21 Soyuz TM-21 was Soyuz mission, a human spaceflight mission transporting personnel to the Russian space station Mir. Part of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir Program, the mission launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, atop a Soyuz-U2 carrier rocket, at 06:11:34 UTC on March 14, 1995... |
75.47 days |
| Flight Engineer | Nikolai Budarin Nikolai Budarin Nikolai Mikhailovich Budarin is a Russian cosmonaut, a veteran of three extended space missions aboard the Mir Space Station and the International Space Station... |
First | |||
Antatoly Solovyev served as a crew member on three spaceflights prior to EO-19: Mir EP-2, Soyuz TM-9
Soyuz TM-9
-Mission highlights:During docking, cosmonauts aboard Mir noticed that three of the eight thermal blankets on the descent module of the approaching Soyuz-TM 9 spacecraft had come loose from their attachments near the heat shield, yet remained attached at their top ends...
, and Soyuz TM-15
Soyuz TM-15
-Crew:-Mission highlights:15th expedition to Mir. Included astronaut Michel Tognini from France.Michel Tognini, passenger aboard Soyuz- TM 15, was the third Frenchman to visit a space station. He conducted ten experiments using 300 kg of equipment delivered by Progress-M flights. Tognini spent...
. This flight was his first aboard a Space Shuttle, with his three previous flights being on the Soyuz. EO-19 was the first spaceflight for Nikolai Budarin, who completed his cosmonaut training in 1991 and completed specialized training on the systems of Mir and the Soyuz-TM
Soyuz-TM
The Soyuz-TM crew transports were fourth generation Soyuz spacecraft used for ferry flights to the Mir and ISS space stations...
spacecraft in 1993.
Both spent just over 75 days in space during EO-19 and completed 1194 orbits of the Earth.
Backup crew
| Mir EO-19 | Name |
|---|---|
| Commander | Yury Onufriyenko |
| Flight Engineer | Aleksandr Poleshchuk |
Mission highlights
Crew launch and arrival
The crew of Mir EO-19 launched aboard the Space ShuttleSpace Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
Atlantis on June 27, 1995 as part of the STS-71 mission. STS-71 was the first docking of a Space Shuttle to the Mir space station and the first docking of an American and Russian spacecraft in 20 years.
STS-71 docked with Mir on June 29 and performed a crew exchange between the EO-19 and EO-18 crews aboard the space station. The crews of EO-18, EO-19, and STS-71 performed a ceremony inside Spacelab
Spacelab
Spacelab was a reusable laboratory used on certain spaceflights flown by the Space Shuttle. The laboratory consisted of multiple components, including a pressurized module, an unpressurized carrier and other related hardware housed in the Shuttle's cargo bay...
aboard Atlantis during which the ten crew members assembled a commemorative pewter
Pewter
Pewter is a malleable metal alloy, traditionally 85–99% tin, with the remainder consisting of copper, antimony, bismuth and lead. Copper and antimony act as hardeners while lead is common in the lower grades of pewter, which have a bluish tint. It has a low melting point, around 170–230 °C ,...
medallion
Medal
A medal, or medallion, is generally a circular object that has been sculpted, molded, cast, struck, stamped, or some way rendered with an insignia, portrait, or other artistic rendering. A medal may be awarded to a person or organization as a form of recognition for athletic, military, scientific,...
and exchanged gifts. Shortly thereafter, the crews began transferring supplies and tools to Mir from Atlantis.
On July 4, The newly-arrived crew of EO-19 undocked temporarily from the station aboard Soyuz TM-21 to observe and photograph the departure of the STS-71 and EO-18 crews aboard Atlantis. TM-21 undocked at 10:55 GMT, followed by STS-71 at 11:09:45 GMT. The EO-19 crew redocked aboard TM-21 at 11:39 GMT as Atlantis conducted a fly-around of the station. Atlantis, carrying the crews of EO-18 and STS-71, landed on July 7 after several more days in Earth orbit.
Mission operations
The crew of EO-19 conducted their first Extra-vehicular activityExtra-vehicular activity
Extra-vehicular activity is work done by an astronaut away from the Earth, and outside of a spacecraft. The term most commonly applies to an EVA made outside a craft orbiting Earth , but also applies to an EVA made on the surface of the Moon...
, or spacewalk, on July 14. Before the mission, the crew had trained to use special tools in order to release a stuck solar array on the exterior of the Spektr
Spektr
Spektr was the fifth module of the Mir Space Station. The module was designed for remote observation of Earth's environment containing atmospheric and surface research equipment...
module.
Kristall
The Kristall module was the fourth module and the third major addition to the Mir space station. As with previous modules, its configuration was based on the 77K module, and was originally named "Kvant 3". It was launched on May 31, 1990 on a Proton rocket...
module. The final task of the spacewalk was to inspect a solar array on Kristall that was not tracking the Sun properly. The excursion ended after five hours and thirty-four minutes outside the station.
The crew relocated the Kristall module to another docking port from the port intended for use by Progress M-28 on July 17 using its Lyappa manipulator arm. This operation was performed in preparation for the next docking of Space Shuttle Atlantis to the station on the STS-74
STS-74
STS-74 was a Space Shuttle Atlantis mission to the Mir space station. It was the fourth mission of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir Program, and it carried out the second docking of a space shuttle to Mir. Atlantis lifted off for the mission on 12 November 1995 from Kennedy Space Center launch pad 39A,...
mission later in the year.
During the mission's second spacewalk on July 19, the crew were to deploy a 220 kilogram Belgian-French spectrometer
Spectrometer
A spectrometer is an instrument used to measure properties of light over a specific portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically used in spectroscopic analysis to identify materials. The variable measured is most often the light's intensity but could also, for instance, be the polarization...
, named MIRAS (Mir infrared spectrometer) on the Spektr module. Following a malfunction in Anatoly Solovyev's Orlan space suit minutes into the excursion, mission control directed him to remain attached to the Kvant-2
Kvant-2
Kvant-2 was the third module and second major addition to the Mir space station. Its primary purpose was to deliver new science experiments, better life support systems, and an airlock to Mir. It was launched on November 26, 1989 on a Proton rocket. It docked to Mir on December 6...
module via umbilical cable
Umbilical cable
An umbilical cable or umbilical is a cable which supplies required consumables to an apparatus. It is named by analogy with an umbilical cord...
. Despite this setback, Nikolai Budarin was able to perform several tasks alone, including preparatory work for the installment of MIRAS and retrieval of an American cosmic ray
Cosmic ray
Cosmic rays are energetic charged subatomic particles, originating from outer space. They may produce secondary particles that penetrate the Earth's atmosphere and surface. The term ray is historical as cosmic rays were thought to be electromagnetic radiation...
detector, TREK. The crew returned to the airlock after three hours and eight minutes. Upon returning to the airlock, the crew discovered a 2 mm (0.078740157480315 in) gap in the seal, which created difficulty in sealing the hatch.
July 20 saw the launch of the Progress M-28 resupply ship to the station, which docked on July 22. The Progress-M
Progress-M
Progress-M , also known as Progress 7K-TGM, is a Russian, previously Soviet spacecraft which is used to resupply space stations. It is a variant of the Progress spacecraft, originally built in the late 1980s as a modernised version of the Progress 7K-TG spacecraft, using new systems developed for...
spacecraft remained docked to the station until September 4, when it undocked from Mir filled with waste and excess equipment and intentionally burned up on reentry
Atmospheric reentry
Atmospheric entry is the movement of human-made or natural objects as they enter the atmosphere of a celestial body from outer space—in the case of Earth from an altitude above the Kármán Line,...
.
During the mission's third and final spacewalk on July 21, the two cosmonauts made a second attempt at installing the MIRAS spectrometer, which they completed without any major problems. The spacewalk lasted five hours and thirty-five minutes.
During the later part of their mission in August, the crew focused on completing experiments and doing research in the areas of astrophysics
Astrophysics
Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties of celestial objects, as well as their interactions and behavior...
, life sciences
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
, and smelting
Smelting
Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...
. The remainder of the crew's activities during this time consisted of unloading the newly arrived Progress cargo ship and monitoring its automated refueling of the station's core module
Mir Core Module
Mir , DOS-7, was the first module of the Soviet/Russian Mir space station complex, in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001. Generally referred to as either the core module or base block, the module was launched on 20 February 1986 on a Proton-K rocket from LC-200/39 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome...
.
End of mission and crew departure
The Mir EO-20 crew consisting of cosmonauts Yuri GidzenkoYuri Gidzenko
Yuri Pavlovich Gidzenko is a Russian cosmonaut. He was a test cosmonaut of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center . Gidzenko has flown twice into space and has lived on board the Mir and International Space Stations. He has also conducted two career spacewalks. Although he retired on July 15,...
and Sergei Avdeyev
Sergei Avdeyev
Sergei Avdeyev is a Russian engineer and cosmonaut.Avdeyev was born in Chapayevsk, Samara Oblast , Russian SFSR. He graduated from in 1979 as an engineer-physicist. From 1979 to 1987 he worked as an engineer for NPO Energiya...
, as well as ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter
Thomas Reiter
Thomas Arthur Reiter is a retired European astronaut and is a Brigadier General in the Luftwaffe currently working as Director of Human Spaceflight and Operations at the European Space Agency . , he was one of the top 25 astronauts in terms of total time in space...
conducting Euromir '95, launched on September 3 at 9:00 GMT aboard Soyuz TM-22
Soyuz TM-22
-Crew:-Mission highlights:23rd expedition to Mir.Soyuz TM-22 was a Russian transport spacecraft that transported cosmonauts to the Mir space station for a 135-day stay. It was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and docked on September 5, 1995 with Mir's Kvant-2 module at the port that was...
. The crew of EO-20 docked with the station on September 5 at 10:29:54 GMT, with hatch opening occurring at 11:01:23.
After transferring command of Mir to EO-20, the crew of EO-19 boarded the Soyuz TM-21 spacecraft, which arrived with the crew of Mir EO-18 in March 1995, on September 11 and undocked from the Kvant-1
Kvant-1
Kvant-1 was the second module of the Soviet space station Mir. It was the first addition to the Mir base block and contained scientific instruments for astrophysical observations and materials science experiments....
module at 3:30:44 GMT. Soyuz TM-21, along with cosmonauts Solovyev and Budarin, subsequently landed at 6:52:40 GMT about 108 km (67.1 mi) Northeast of Arkalyk
Arkalyk
Arkalyk is a city in Kostanay Province, northern Kazakhstan. Earlier, it was the centre of Torgay province, which was abolished in 1997. Today, it is the administrative centre of Torgay region, Kostanay province....
, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
.