Soyuz TM-13

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Soyuz TM-13
Mission duration 175 days, 2 hours, 51 minutes, 44 seconds
Orbits completed ~2,730
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type Soyuz-TM
Manufacturer NPO Energia
Launch mass 7,150 kilograms (15,760 lb)
Crew
Crew size 3
Members Alexander Volkov
Launching Toktar Aubakirov
Franz Viehböck
Landing Sergei Krikalev
Klaus-Dietrich Flade
Callsign Донба́сс (Donbass)
Start of mission
Launch date October 2, 1991, 05:59:38 (1991-10-02UTC05:59:38Z) UTC
Rocket Soyuz-U2
End of mission
Landing date March 25, 1992, 08:51:22 (1992-03-25UTC08:51:23Z) UTC
Landing site near Dzhezkazgan
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Low Earth
Perigee 195 kilometres (121 mi)
Apogee 232 kilometres (144 mi)
Inclination 51.7 degrees
Period 92.4 minutes
Docking with Mir
Soyuz TM-13 patch.png
Soyuz programme
(Manned missions)
← Soyuz TM-12 Soyuz TM-14

Soyuz TM-13 was the 13th expedition to Mir space station.[1] It included an astronaut from Austria and a cosmonaut from the soon-to-be independent region of Kazakhstan.

Crew

Position Launching crew Landing crew
Commander Soviet Union/Russia Alexander Volkov
Third spaceflight
Research Cosmonaut/Flight Engineer Soviet Union Toktar Aubakirov
First spaceflight
Soviet Union/Russia Sergei Krikalev
Second spaceflight
Research Cosmonaut Austria Franz Viehböck
First spaceflight
Germany Klaus-Dietrich Flade
First spaceflight

Mission highlights

Soyuz-TM 13 carried Austrian cosmonaut-researcher Franz Viehböck and still Soviet-Kazakh cosmonaut-researcher Toktar Aubakirov. The flight was unusual for carrying no flight engineer. Veteran Russian cosmonaut Alexandr Volkov commanded. The Austrians paid $7 million to fly Viehböck to Mir, and the Kazakh cosmonaut flew partly in an effort to encourage Kazakhstan to continue to permit launchings from Baikonur Cosmodrome. The cosmonaut-researchers photographed their respective countries from orbit and conducted the usual range of materials processing and medical experiments. Artsebarsky traded places with Volkov and returned to Earth in Soyuz TM-12.

Spent 175 days docked to Mir.

Sergei Krikalev and Alexandr Volkov, aka "the last Citizens of the USSR", launched from the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic within the USSR, and landed in the independent Republic of Kazakhstan.

  1. The mission report is available here: http://www.spacefacts.de/mission/english/soyuz-tm13.htm