Soyuz TM-16
The Soyuz-TM crew transports (T - транспортный - Transportnyi - meaning transport, M - модифицированный - Modifitsirovannyi- meaning modified) were fourth generation (1986–2002) Soyuz spacecraft used for ferry flights to the Mir and ISS space stations. It added to the Soyuz-T new docking and rendezvous, radio communications, emergency and integrated parachute/landing engine systems. The new Kurs rendezvous and docking system permitted the Soyuz-TM to maneuver independently of the station, without the station making "mirror image" maneuvers to match unwanted translations introduced by earlier models' aft-mounted attitude control.
Operator | Rosaviakosmos |
---|---|
COSPAR ID | 1993-005A |
SATCAT no. | 22319 |
Mission duration | 179 days, 43 minutes, 45 seconds |
Orbits completed | ~2,790 |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft type | Soyuz-TM |
Manufacturer | NPO Energia |
Launch mass | 7,150 kilograms (15,760 lb) |
Crew | |
Crew size | 2 up 3 down |
Members | Gennadi Manakov Alexander Poleshchuk |
Landing | Jean-Pierre Haigneré |
Callsign | Вулка́н (Vulkan - Volcano) |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | January 24, 1993, 05:58:05 UTC |
Rocket | Soyuz-U2 |
End of mission | |
Landing date | July 22, 1993, 06:41:50 UTC |
Landing site | 140 kilometres (87 mi) S of Dzhezkazgan |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric |
Regime | Low Earth |
Perigee altitude | 393 kilometres (244 mi) |
Apogee altitude | 394 kilometres (245 mi) |
Inclination | 51.6 degrees |
Docking with Mir | |
Soyuz programme (Crewed missions) |
Soyuz TM-16 was the sixteenth expedition to the Russian Space Station Mir.[1]
Crew
Position | Launching crew | Landing crew |
---|---|---|
Commander | Gennadi Manakov Second spaceflight | |
Flight Engineer | Alexander Poleshchuk First spaceflight | |
Research Cosmonaut | None | Jean-Pierre Haigneré First spaceflight |
Mission highlights
16th expedition to Mir.
First Soyuz without a probe and drogue docking system since 1976. It carried an APAS-89 androgynous docking unit different from the APAS-75 unit used for ASTP in 1975, yet similar in general principles. Soyuz-TM 16 used it to dock with an androgynous docking port on the Kristall module. This was a test of the docking system in preparation for dockings by the Space Shuttles with Mir.
References
- The mission report is available here:http://www.spacefacts.de/mission/english/soyuz-tm16.htm