MIR-18

Norm Thagard becomes the first American on Mir-and to ride a Russian Soyuz into space

 

****UNDER CONSTRUCTION****

 

Prime Crew: Vladimir N. Dezhurov (Cosmonaut; Commander)

Gennadiy M. Strekalov (Cosmonaut; Soyuz Flight Engineer)

Dr. Norman E. "Norm" Thagard (NASA; Researcher)

Backup Crew: Yuri P. Gidzenko (Cosmonaut; Commander)

Sergei V. Avdeyev (Cosmonaut; Soyuz Flight Engineer)

Dr. Bonnie J. Dunbar (NASA; Researcher)

March 14, 1995 (Baikonur)

Mission Duration: 181 days

Spacecraft: Soyuz TM 21 S/N 70 Uragan (Hurricane)

Landing: STS-71/Atlantis, July 7, 1995-Runway 15 (Shuttle Landing Facility), John F. Kennedy Space Center, FL.   

 

 

 

The crew of MIR-18, the first Russian mission to include an American astronaut. L-R: "Cosmonaut Researcher" (sort of like a Skylab Science Pilot) Norman E. Thagard, NASA astronaut; Commander Vladimir N. Dezhurov, Cosmonaut; and Soyuz Flight Engineer Gennadiy M. Strekalov, Cosmonaut. Norm Thagard had first flown on the historic STS-7 Shuttle mission in 1983; this mission featured Sally Ride, the first American female astronaut. Since then, he had flown on STS-51-B, STS-30, and STS-42. An astronaut since 1978, his fifth spaceflight (at age 51) would be the first time an American rode a Russian Soyuz into space, and he would be the first American on the Mir space station. He was to return on STS-71/Atlantis in early July-which would mean spending his 52nd birthday in space! By contrast, his commander on this flight, Vladimir Dezhurov, was a space rookie almost 19 years younger, born June 30, 1962, at the Yavas settlement, Zubovo-Polyansk district, Mordovia, Russia. He had been a Soviet Air Force pilot in the mid-1980s, and entered Cosmonaut training in 1987. MIR-18 would be his first mission. Gennadiy Strekalov, on the other hand, was, like Thagard, on his fifth mission-sixth, if you count the harrowing fire and pad abort he undured along with Vladimir Titov on Soyuz T-10! The oldest member of the crew, he was born Oct. 26, 1940, in the Mytishohi Moscow region of Russia. (His father was killed at the front during the last months of World War II). He had been a Cosmonaut since 1974, before which he had been employed as an engineer at Energia. He had flown on Soyuz T-3/Salyut 6 in 1980, Soyuz T-8 (with Vladimir Titov) in 1983, the aforementioned Soyuz T-10 later that year, Soyuz T-11/Salyut 7 the next year, & Soyuz TM-10/Mir in 1990. Before MIR-18 even flew, he had 153 days in space.  NASA Photo.

 

 

Video: MIR-18 Highlights (MPEG)