Mir Principal Expedition 4

• Mission data
• Notes
• TM-7 Docking maneuvers
• Photo gallery
• Links
• Crew portraits

Flight details of Mir Principal Expedition 4, «Мир» Экспедиция осовная 4, who launched on Soyuz TM-7.

Mission data

EO-4 prime crew
ЭО-4 основной экипаж

Name	Role	Origin
Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Volkov Адександр Александрович Волков	Commander Командир	Yu.A. Gagarin RGNII TsPK, USSR РГНИИ ЦПК им. Ю.А. Гагарина, Россия
Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalyov Сергей Константинович Крикалёв	Flight Engineer-1 Бортинженер-1	S.P. Korolev RSC Energiya, USSR РКК «Энергия» им. С.П. Королева, СССР
Jean-Loup Jacques Marie Chretien	Cosmonaut-researcher Космонавт-исследователь	France, CNES

EO-4 backup crew
ЭО-4 дублирующий экипаж

Name	Role	Origin
Aleksandr Stepanovich Viktorenko Александр Степанович Викторенко	Commander Командир	Yu.A. Gagarin RGNII TsPK, USSR РГНИИ ЦПК им. Ю.А. Гагарина, Россия
Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Serebrov Александр Александрович Серебров	Flight Engineer-1 Бортинженер-1	S.P. Korolev RSC Energiya, USSR РКК «Энергия» им. С.П. Королева, СССР
Michel Ange-Charles Tognini	Cosmonaut-researcher Космонавт-исследователь	France, CNES

Flight details

Call-sign	Donbas-2, «Донбас-2»
Mir expedition	EO-4, ЭО-4
Launch craft	Soyuz 7K-STM No. 57 carrying the Soyuz TM-7 spacecraft
Launch site	Area 1, Launch Pad 5, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
Launched	26 November 1988 at 15:49:34 UTC
Docked	28 November at 17:15:40 UTC to the Kvant module.
Undocked	26 April 1989 at 23:28:01 UTC
Landed	27 April 1989 at 02:57:58 UTC
Landing site	40 km NE of Dzezkazgan, Kazakhstan SSR
Mission duration	151d 11h 8m

Notes

The previous crew (Vladimir Titov, Musa Manarov and Valerii Polyakov) remained on Mir for another 25 days (the longest a 6-person crew had been in orbit). The previous crew then returned to Earth. Krikalyov and his crewmates prepared the Station for a period of unmanned operations as the next crew’s arrival had been delayed. They then returned to Earth on 27 April, 1989.

The Soyuz TM landing system is effective at reducing velocity in the vertical direction. However, according to cosmonaut Sergei Krikalyov, winds at the landing site often impart considerable horizontal velocity. As a result, about 80% of all Soyuz descent modules come to rest on their sides. During the rough landing, Krikalyov suffered a minor injury to his knee.

– Mir Hardware Heritage PDF document at NASA Shuttle-Mir Web

Soyuz TM-7 docking maneuvers

The table below was taken from “Orbital manoeuvres of the Mir Orbital Complex” by Phillip S. Clarke (published in The History of Mir 1986-2000 by the British Interplanetary Society).

Spacecraft	Soyuz TM-7
Launch date/time	26 November 1988 at 15:50
Docking port	+X (K)
Docking date/time	28 November 1988 at 17:16
Initial orbit – epoch	November 26:71
Initial orbit – inclination °	51.61
Initial orbit – period (min)	88.79
Initial orbit – altitude (km)	194-235
Docking orbit – epoch	November 28.77
Docking orbit – inclination °	51.62
Docking orbit – period (min)	91.60
Docking orbit – altitude (km)	337-369
Undocking date/time	22 December 1988 at 06.45
Re-docking date/time	22 December 1988 at 06:59
Re-docking – epoch	December 22.78
Re-docking – inclination °	51.62
Re-docking – period (min)	91.37
Re-docking – altitude (km)	328-356
Docking port	−X
Undocking date/time	26 April 1989 at 23.28
Descent date/time	27 December 1989 at 02.59

Photo gallery

Links

• Capcomespace: L’espace Sovietique: MIR 1988-89. In French, but features lots of photos and diagrams.
• Encyclopedia Astronautica: Mir EO-4
• Houston Chronicle: “3 cosmonauts blast off on historic Mir mission”
• Loty Kosmiczne: Sojuz TM-7 page (in Polish)
• Spacefacts: Mir Expedition EO-4 data page

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