Soyuz TM-19

Soyuz TM-19 was a crewed Soyuz spaceflight to Mir. It launched on 1 July 1994, at 12:24:50 UTC.

Soyuz TM-19

Mission type	Mir crew transport
Operator	Rosaviakosmos
COSPAR ID	1994-036A
SATCAT no.	23139
Mission duration	125 days, 22 hours, 53 minutes, 36 seconds
Orbits completed	1,993
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Soyuz 7K-STM No.68
Spacecraft type	Soyuz-TM
Manufacturer	RKK Energia
Launch mass	7,150 kilograms (15,760 lb)
Crew
Crew size	2 up 3 down
Members	Yuri Malenchenko Talgat Musabayev
Landing	Ulf Merbold
Callsign	Ага́т (Agat - Agate)
Start of mission
Launch date	July 1, 1994, 12:24:50 (1994-07-01UTC12:24:50Z) UTC
Rocket	Soyuz-U2
Launch site	Baikonur 1/5
End of mission
Landing date	November 4, 1994, 11:18:26 (1994-11-04UTC11:18:27Z) UTC
Landing site	88 kilometres (55 mi) northeast of Arkalyk
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee altitude	396 kilometres (246 mi)
Apogee altitude	397 kilometres (247 mi)
Inclination	51.6 degrees
Period	92.48 minutes
Epoch	31 July 1994
Docking with Mir
Docking port	Kvant-1 aft
Docking date	3 July 1994, 13:55:01 UTC
Undocking date	4 November 1994, 08:31:30 UTC
Soyuz programme (Crewed missions)

Crew

Position	Launching crew	Landing crew
Commander	Yuri Malenchenko First spaceflight
Flight Engineer	Talgat Musabayev First spaceflight
Research Cosmonaut	None	Ulf Merbold Third and last spaceflight

Mission highlights

Commander Malenchenko and Flight Engineer Musabayev, both spaceflight rookies, were to have been launched with veteran cosmonaut Gennadi Strekalov, who would have returned to Earth with Viktor Afanasyev and Yuri Usachov in Soyuz TM-18 after a few days on Mir. However, the cancellation of one of two Progress-M cargo ships scheduled to resupply Mir during the Agat crew's stay meant that Strekalov's couch had to carry supplies. The result was the first all-rookie Soyuz flight since Soyuz 25 in October 1977. Docking occurred without incident on July 3. Both cosmonauts and Doctor Valeri Polyakov (who had arrived on Soyuz TM-18) became the 16th resident crew; many technical problems with the station arose during this expedition, necessitating a previously untried manual supply docking by Malenchenko. On November 3, Malenchenko, Musabayev and Merbold undocked in Soyuz TM-19 and backed 190m from Mir. They then activated the Kurs automatic approach system, which successfully redocked the spacecraft. The cosmonauts then transferred back to Mir. The test was related to the difficulties Soyuz TM-20 and Progress M-24 experienced during their automatic approaches. Final undocking and reentry occurred the following day without incident.

Mission accomplishments

• Docked with Mir
• Partial crew exchange
• Conducted medical experiments
• Conducted materials experiments
• Malenchenko and Musabayev perform EVA on 09.09.1994 (5h 6m) to repair station's external insulation
• Both cosmonauts repeat EVA on 14.09.1994 (6h 1m) for same purpose
• First successful manual docking of a Progress supply ship