Mir EP-2

Mir EP-2
Mission type Mir visiting crew
Mission duration 9.84 days[1] (launch to landing)
Expedition
Space Station Mir
Began 7 June 1988 (1988-06-07)
Ended 17 June 1988 (1988-06-18)
Arrived aboard Soyuz TM-5[1]
Departed aboard Soyuz TM-4[1]
Crew
Crew size Three
Members Anatoly Solovyev
Viktor Savinykh
Aleksandr Aleksandrov
Callsign Родни́к (Rodnik- Spring)


Mir Visiting Expeditions
 EP-1 EP-3

Mir EP-2 was a visiting expedition to the Mir space station conducted in June 1988 by cosmonauts Anatoly Solovyev, Viktor Savinykh and Aleksandr Aleksandrov. Launched aboard the Soyuz TM-5 spacecraft, the crew spent ten days in space before returning to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-4. The mission occurred while the EO-3 crew were aboard Mir.

Solovyev commanded the mission, with Savinykh as his flight engineer, while Bulgarian Aleksandr Panayatov Aleksandrov flew as a research cosmonaut. Aleksandrov was the second Bulgarian to fly in space, the first being Georgi Ivanov, who flew on Soyuz 33. Ivanov failed to reach the Salyut 6 space station as his mission was aborted prior to docking due to an engine failure aboard his spacecraft Soyuz 33.[2] As a result, prior to EP-2, Bulgaria was the only Eastern European Soviet ally to not have one of its citizens visit a Soviet space station.[3]

Crew

Mir EP-2 Name Spaceflight LaunchLandingDuration
Commander Soviet Union Anatoly Solovyev First 7 July 1988
Soyuz TM-5
17 July 1988
Soyuz TM-4
9.8 days
Flight Engineer Soviet Union Viktor Savinykh Third
Research cosmonaut Bulgaria Aleksandr Aleksandrov First

Experiments

During his visit, Aleksandrov used nearly 2,000 kg of equipment delivered by Progress spacecraft to conduct 46 experiments in the Shipka programme.

Landing

The visiting EP-2 crew returned to Earth about a week later in the spacecraft Soyuz TM-4, leaving TM-5 as the station's lifeboat.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Mir EP-2". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  2. "Salyut 6 EP-5-1". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
  3. D.S.F. Portree. "Mir Hardware Heritage" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
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