Mir EP-2

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.

Mir EP-2
Mission typeMir visiting crew
Mission duration9.84 days[1] (launch to landing)
Expedition
Space stationMir
Began7 June 1988 (1988-06-07)
Ended17 June 1988 (1988-06-18)
Arrived aboardSoyuz TM-5[1]
Departed aboardSoyuz TM-4[1]
Crew
Crew sizeThree
MembersAnatoly Solovyev
Viktor Savinykh
Aleksandr Aleksandrov
CallsignРодни́к (Rodnik- Spring)
Mir Visiting Expeditions
 

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-2NameSpaceflightLaunchLandingDuration
Commander Soviet Union Anatoly Solovyev First 7 June 1988
Soyuz TM-5		 17 June 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.[4]

References
  1. "Mir EP-2". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 8 January 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  2. "Salyut 6 EP-5-1". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on January 9, 2004. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
  3. D.S.F. Portree. "Mir Hardware Heritage" (PDF). NASA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 September 2009. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  4. "Mir EP-2". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 8 January 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
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