Mir EO-21
Mission typeMir expedition
Mission duration193.8 days (Onufrienko, Usachyov) (launch to landing)
Expedition
Space stationMir
Began21 February 1996 (1996-02-21)
Ended2 September 1996 (1996-09-03)
Arrived aboardSoyuz TM-23
STS-76 (Lucid)[1][2]
Space Shuttle Atlantis
Departed aboardSoyuz TM-23
STS-79[1][3]
Space Shuttle Atlantis
Crew
Crew size2 (February-March)
3 (March-September)
MembersYuri Onufrienko
Yury Usachov
Shannon Lucid* (from March)
* - Transferred to EO-22
CallsignSkif[1]

Yury Usachov, Yuri Onufrienko, Shannon Lucid
Long-term Mir expeditions
← EO-20
EO-22 →
 

Mir EO-21 was a long-duration mission aboard the Russian Space station Mir, which occurred between February and September 1996. The crew consisted of two Russian cosmonauts, Commander Yuri Onufrienko and Yury Usachov, as well as American astronaut Shannon Lucid. Lucid arrived at the station about a month into the expedition, and left about a week following its conclusion; NASA refers to her mission as NASA-2.[4] She was the second American to have a long-duration stay aboard Mir, the first being Norman Thagard, as a crew member of Mir EO-18; he stayed on the station for 111 days.[5] Some sources refer to her mission as Mir NASA-1, claiming that she was the first American to have a long-duration stay aboard Mir.[6]

Crew

Mir EO-21 Name Spaceflight Launch Landing Duration Notes
Commander Russia Yuri Onufrienko First 21 February 1996
Soyuz TM-23 		2 September 1996
Soyuz TM-23 		193 days
Flight Engineer Russia Yury Usachov Second
Flight Engineer United States Shannon Lucid Fifth and last 22 March 1996
STS-76 		26 September 1996
STS-79 		188 days Aboard the station
for some of Mir EO-22

Mission highlights

Crew handover and Mir Cassiopee

On 19 August 1996, the Soyuz TM-24 spacecraft docked with Mir's front port. It brought to the station two of the next long-duration crew, Valery Korzun and Aleksandr Kaleri. The following expedition, Mir EO-22, would be commanded by Korzun. Also aboard Soyuz TM-24 was French astronaut Claudie Haigneré (then called Claudie Andre-Deshays), whose mission is known as Mir Cassiopee.[7][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Mir EO-21". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 20 November 2010. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
  2. ^ "STS-76". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 19 November 2010. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
  3. ^ "STS-79". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 29 November 2010. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
  4. ^ "NASA-2". NASA.
  5. ^ Marsha Freeman (July 2000). Challenges of human space exploration. Springer. p. 260. ISBN 1-85233-201-8.
  6. ^ "Mir NASA-1". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2010-11-29.
  7. ^ "Mir Cassiopee". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2011-10-11.
  8. ^ "International cooperation in space manned programs realization". Yuri Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
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