Soyuz TM-21

Soyuz TM-21

Operator	Rosaviakosmos
Mission duration	181 days, 41 minutes, 6 seconds
Orbits completed	~2,940
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	Soyuz-TM
Manufacturer	RKK Energia
Launch mass	7,170 kilograms (15,810 lb)
Crew
Crew size	3 up 2 down
Launching	Vladimir Dezhurov Gennady Strekalov Norman Thagard
Landing	Anatoly Solovyev Nikolai Budarin
Callsign	Урага́н (Uragan - Hurricane)
Start of mission
Launch date	March 14, 1995, 06:11:34 (1995-03-14UTC06:11:34Z) UTC
Rocket	Soyuz-U2
End of mission
Landing date	September 11, 1995, 06:52:40 (1995-09-11UTC06:52:41Z) UTC
Landing site
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee	200 kilometers (120 mi)
Apogee	249.6 kilometers (155.1 mi)
Inclination	51.65 degrees
Period	88.7 minutes
Docking with Mir
From left to right: Norman Thagard, Vladimir Dezhurov, Gennady Strekalov Soyuz programme (Manned missions) ← Soyuz TM-20 Soyuz TM-22 →

Soyuz TM-21 was Soyuz mission, a human spaceflight mission transporting personnel to the Russian space station Mir. Part of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir Program, the mission launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, atop a Soyuz-U2 carrier rocket, at 06:11:34 UTC on March 14, 1995. It is of note because its launch marked the presence, for the first time ever, of thirteen humans in space simultaneously - three aboard the Soyuz, three aboard Mir and seven aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour, flying STS-67.

The spacecraft carried expedition EO-18 to the space station, including the first American astronaut to launch on a Soyuz spacecraft and board Mir, Norman Thagard, for the American Thagard Increment aboard the station, the first Increment of the Shuttle-Mir program. The three crew members it launched were relieved by Space Shuttle Atlantis during STS-71, when they were replaced by expedition EO-19. The crew returned to earth aboard Soyuz TM-21 on September 11, 1995.

Crew

Position	Launching crew	Landing crew
Commander	Vladimir Dezhurov First spaceflight	Anatoly Solovyev Fourth spaceflight
Flight Engineer	Gennady Strekalov Fifth spaceflight	Nikolai Budarin First spaceflight
Research Cosmonaut	Norman Thagard Fifth spaceflight	None

Mission parameters

• Mass: 7150 kg
• Perigee: 201 km
• Apogee: 247 km
• Inclination: 51.65°
• Period: 88.7 minutes

• First Mir docking: March 16, 1995, 07:45:26 UTC
• First Mir undocking: July 4, 1995, 10:55 UTC
• Second Mir docking: July 4, 1995, 11:39 UTC
• Second Mir undocking: September 11, 1995, 03:30:44 UTC