Soyuz TM-18
InsigniaSoyuz TM-18 patch.png
OperatorRosaviakosmos
Cospar id1994-001A
Satcat22957
Mission duration182 days, 27 minutes, 1 second
Orbits completed~2,910
SpacecraftSoyuz 7K-STM No. 67
Soyuz-TMSoyuz 7K-STM No. 67
ManufacturerNPO Energia
Launch mass7,150 kilograms (15,760 lb)
Launch date UTC
Launch rocketSoyuz-U2
Launch siteBaikonur 1/5
Landing date UTC
Landing site110 kilometres (68 mi) north of Arkalyk
Crew membersViktor Afanasyev
Yury Usachov
Crew launchingValeri Polyakov
Crew callsignДербе́нт (Derbent)
Orbit epoch7 February 1994390 kilometres (240 mi)[1]
Orbit referenceGeocentric
Orbit regimeLow Earth
Orbit periapsis384 kilometres (239 mi)
Orbit apoapsis390 kilometres (240 mi)
Orbit inclination51.6 degrees
Orbit period92.29 minutes
Apsisgee
Previous missionSoyuz TM-17
Next missionSoyuz TM-19
ProgrammeSoyuz programme
(Crewed missions)
Soyuz TM-18
Docking targetMir
dock10 January 1994, 11:50:20 UTC
Docking portKvant-1 aft
Undocking date9 July 1994, 07:12:59 UTC

Soyuz TM-18 was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome and landed 112 km north of Arkalyk. TM-18 was a two-day solo flight that docked with the Mir space station on January 10, 1994. The three cosmonauts became the 15th resident crew on board Mir. The crew did research work in space flight medicine, primarily by cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov during his long-term flight, and accomplished 25 different experiments.

Mission highlights

18th expedition to Mir.

Afanasyev and Usachev spent 179 days on Mir. Dr. Polyakov was slated to return to Earth on Soyuz-TM 20 in March 1995, after more than 420 days on Mir.

See also

References

  1. ^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 9 November 2013.