Mir EO-21

Mir EO-21

Mission type	Mir expedition
Mission duration	193.8 days (Onufrienko, Usachyov) (launch to landing)
Expedition
Space Station	Mir
Began	21 February 1996
Ended	2 September 1996
Arrived aboard	Soyuz TM-23 STS-76 (Lucid)[1][2] Space Shuttle Atlantis
Departed aboard	Soyuz TM-23 STS-79[1][3] Space Shuttle Atlantis
Crew
Crew size	2 (February-March) 3 (March-September)
Members	Yuri Onufrienko Yury Usachov Shannon Lucid* (from March) * - Transferred to EO-22
Callsign	Skif[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	Yuri Onufrienko	First	21 February 1996 Soyuz TM-23	2 September 1996 Soyuz TM-23	193 days
Flight Engineer	Yury Usachov	Second
Flight Engineer	Shannon Lucid	Fifth	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. "Mir EO-21". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
2. "STS-76". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
3. "STS-79". Encyclopedia Astronautica. 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.
7. "Mir Cassiopee". Encyclopedia Astronautica.
8. "International cooperation in space manned programs realization". Yuri Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center. Retrieved 11 December 2010.