Soyuz TM-18

USSR

Manned Flight nº: 166

Earth orbit Flight nº: 163

USSR Flight nº: 78

Launch & orbit data:

Designation	22957 / 94001A
Launch date - time	08 Jan 1994 - 10:05:34 UT
Launch site	Baikonur, LC1
Launch vehicle	Soyuz 11A511U2
OKB name - S/Nº	Soyuz 7K-STM (11F732) s/nº 67
Mass (kg)	7.150
Call Sign	Derbent (Russian city)
Earth orbit on :
- Perigee / Apogee	244 x 335 km
- Inclination	51.6°
- Period	90.1 min

Docking & landing data:

Docking date - time	10 Jan 1994 - 11:50:20 UT
Target spacecraft/port	Mir/Kvant
Undocking date - time	09 Jul 1994 - 07:12:59 UT
Deorbit burn date - time	09 Jul 1994 - 09:37:32 UT separate: 10:06:01 UT
Landing date - time	09 Jul 1994 - 10:32:35 UT
Landing location	112 km NE of Arkalyk
Flight Duration (d:hr:min)	182:00:27
Nbr orbits
Landing crew	Afanasiyev, Usachyov (crew TM-18)

Launch Crew (EO-15):

Nr.	Surname	Given name	Job	Crew Duration	Orbits
1	Afanasiyev	Viktor Mikhailovich	Commander	182d 00h 27m	2880
2	Usachyov	Yuri Vladimirovich	Flight engineer	182d 00h 27m	2880
3	Polyakov	Valeri Vladimirovich	Doctor cosmonaut	437d 17h 58m	6927

Polyakov landed with Soyuz TM-20 on 22 Mar 1995

Flight crew

Backup Crew

Nr.	Name	Job
1	Malenchenko, Yuri I.	Commander
2	Musabayev, Talgat A.	Flight engineer
2	Arzamazov, German S.	Research cosm.

2nd Backup crew: Viktorenko A., Kondakova Y. & Morukov B.

Soyuz TM-18 - Polyakov, Afanasiyev, Usachyov aboard Mir. - Credit: RKK Energia.

Soyuz TM-18 - Usachev with Penguin suit aboard Mir. - Credit: RKK Energia.

Mission details:

Launch from Baikonur; landing 112 km northeast of Arkalyk; docking on MIR spacestation; cosmonauts became the 15th resident crew; research work in space-flight medicine by Polyakov during his long-term-flight (25 different experiments).
Mir Expedition EO-15. Docked at the Kvant module on January 10 at 11:15 GMT. Transported to the Mir orbital station of a crew comprising the cosmonauts V M Afanasev, Y V Usachev, and V V Polyakov for the fifteenth main expedition. The Soyuz TM-18 descent module landed 110 km north of Arkalyk in Kazakhstan at 10:32:35 GMT on July 9.

Astrophilately covers:

Launch cancel Baikonur and special overprint stamps with TP surtaxe cancel. Send registrated, signed by crew

Launch cancel Baikonur on special cover 30-15 mission, sighned by crew.

Cosmic Mail: Cover on board of Mir during TM-17 and TM-18, with 2 Mir boardcancel, and 4 date boardcancel: 030793 (docking TM-17), 220793, 160993 (2e EVA) and 100194 (docking TM-18), signed by the crew.

Landing cancel Arkalyk, signed by crew and send registrated.

Ref.: #7, #8, #10, #16, #210 - update: 30.01.19

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