MISSION NAME
Soyuz TM-8 8
Status
Success
DATE
5 SEP 1989
LAUNCH PROVIDER
Soviet Space Program
Launch Pad
1/5
Description
Soyuz TM-8 was the eighth mission and the fifth long-duration expedition to Mir space station. The mission began on September 5, 1989, 21:38:03 UTC, launching Commander Alexander Viktorenko and Flight Engineer Aleksandr Serebrov into orbit. They docked with Mir two days later. During their stay there, cosmonauts performed five EVAs, various station maintenance tasks, and carried out scientific experiments in medicine, geophysics, space technology, earth observation, astronomy etc. The crew returned after 166 days in orbit, landing safely back on Earth on February 19, 1990, 04:36:18 UTC.
Soyuz-U2
Rocket Description
The Soyuz-U2 was a Soviet, later Russian, carrier rocket. It was derived from the Soyuz-U, and a member of the R-7 family of rockets. It featured increased performance compared with the baseline Soyuz-U, due to the use of syntin propellant, as opposed to RP-1 paraffin, used on the Soyuz-U.