COSPAR ID | 1988-075A |
---|---|
Mission duration | 114 days, 5 hours, 33 minutes, 49 seconds |
Orbits completed | ~1,840 |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft type | Soyuz-TM |
Manufacturer | NPO Energia |
Launch mass | 7,070 kilograms (15,590 lb) |
Crew | |
Crew size | 3 |
Launching |
Vladimir Lyakhov Valeri Polyakov Abdul Mohmand |
Landing |
Vladimir Titov Musa Manarov Jean-Loup Chrétien |
Callsign | Прото́н (Proton) |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | August 29, 1988, 04:23:11 | UTC
Rocket | Soyuz-U2 |
Launch site | Baikonur 1/5 |
End of mission | |
Landing date | December 21, 1988, 09:57:00 | UTC
Landing site | 160 kilometres (99 mi) SE of Dzhezkazgan |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric |
Regime | Low Earth |
Docking with Mir | |
Soyuz programme
(Manned missions) |
Soyuz TM-6 was the sixth manned spacecraft to visit the Soviet Space Station Mir. It was launched in August 1988, during the station's third long-duration expedition, Mir EO-3. The three-person crew that was launched consisted of Research Doctor Valeri Polyakov, who became part of the EO-3 crew, as well as the two crew members of the week-long mission Mir EP-3, which included the first ever Afghan cosmonaut, Abdul Ahad Mohmand.
On September 8, Soyuz TM-6 was undocked from Mir's Kvant port and redocked onto the Mir Base Block's port. It remained there until December, when it brought Titov and Manarov of the EO-3 crew back to Earth. It also landed French astronaut Jean-Loup Chrétien, ending his week-long spaceflight which started with Soyuz TM-7.
Dr. Valeri Polyakov remained behind on Mir with cosmonauts Musa Manarov and Vladimir Titov when Mohmand and Lyakhov returned to Earth in Soyuz TM-5.
Its crew had a unique makeup, with a commander (Vladimir Lyakhov) who had been trained to fly a Soyuz-TM solo in the event a rescue ship needed to be sent to recover two cosmonauts from Mir, no flight engineer, and two inexperienced cosmonaut-researchers. One was Dr. Valeri Polyakov, who would remain aboard Mir with Titov and Manarov to monitor their health during the final months of their planned year-long stay. The other was Intercosmos cosmonaut Abdul Ahad Mohmand, from Afghanistan.