Soyuz TM-7

USSR

Manned Flight nº: 122

Earth orbit Flight nº: 119

USSR Flight nº: 67

Launch & orbit data:

Designation	19660 / 88104A
Launch date - time	26 Nov 1988 - 15:49:34 UT
Launch site	Baikonur, LC1
Launch vehicle	Soyuz 11A511U2
OKB name - S/Nº	Soyuz 7K-STM (11F732) s/nº 57
Mass (kg)	7.000
Flight Crew (EO-4)	Volkov, Aleksandr (CDR) Krikalev, Sergei (FE) Chrétien, Jean-Loup (CR)
Call Sign	Donbass (Donbass - River Don basin)
Earth orbit on :
- Perigee / Apogee	194 x 235 km
- Inclination	51.6°
- Period	88.8 min

Docking & landing data:

Docking date - time	28 Nov 1988 - 17:15 UT
Target spacecraft/port	Kvant/
Undocking date - time
Redocking date - time	UT
Target spacecraft/port	Mir/fore
Undocking date - time	26 Apr 1989 - 23:28:01 UT
Deorbit date - time	27 Apr 1989 - 02:00:05 UT
Landing date - time	27 Apr 1989 - 02:57:58 UT
Landing location	49°N, 69°E
Flight Duration (d:hr:min)	151:11:09
Nbr orbits
Landing crew	Poliakov V., Volkov, Krikalev (crew TM-6 & TM-7)

Crew

Nr.	Surname	Given name	Job	Duration	Orbits
1	Volkov	Aleksandr Aleksandrovich	Commander	151d 11h 09m	2396
2	Krikalyov	Sergei Konstantinovich	Flight engineer	151d 11h 09m	2396
3	Chrétien	Jean-Loup Jacques Marie	Research cosmonaut	24d 18h 08m	395

Chrétien landed at 21.12.1988 with Soyuz TM-6

Backup Crew

Nr.	Name	Job
1	Viktorenko, Aleksandr S.	Commander
2	Serebrov, Aleksandr A.	Flight engineer
2	Tognini, Michel A.C.	Research cosm.

2nd Backup crew: Solovyev A. & Balandin A.

Mir Cosmonaut on EVA - Credit: RKK Energia.

Mission details:

The original launch date of November 21, 1988 was moved back to permit French president François Mitterrand to attend the launch.
Mir Expedition EO-04. Carried Alexander Volkov, Sergei Krikalev, Jean-Loup Chretien to Mir; returned Volkov, Krikalev to Earth. Initial Orbit: 194 X 235 km. Thereafter maneuvered to rendezvous orbit 256 X 291 km before docking with Mir in 337 X 369 km at 17:16 GMT 28 November.
Following a two day solo flight the Soyuz docked with the MIR-Kvant-complex on 28 Nov 1988. Scientific work with third resident crew.
Volkov and Krikalyov together with Polyakov became the fourth resident crew; EVA by Volkov and Chrétien on 09.12.1988 (5h 57m), installing the French ERA experimental deployable structure and a panel of material samples;
Chrétien became the first non-American and non-Soviet cosmonaut to perform a spacewalk.
The Soyuz TM-7 crew undocked from the Mir station and landed in Kazakhstan on Apr 27 leaving the Mir station unpiloted for the first time in over two years. (The Soyuz TM-8 mission to Mir has been cancelled, a new crew is trained to repair the electrical power system.)

Astrophilately covers:

New launch cancel Baikonur, send registrated.

Cosmic Mail: Special French CNES cancel and Mir octagonal boardcancel signed by crew, Poliakov (TM-6) and TM-4 resident crew: Titov and Manarov.

Cosmic Mail: Special Russian and octagonal boardcancel 17.12.88 signed by crew: Volkov, Krikalov and Cré, Poliakov (TM-6) and TM-4 resident crew: Titov and Manarov.

Cosmic Mail: with undocking Mir post-cancel: 20.12.88, start and landing cancel Baikonur, numbered and signed by Crew.

Special cancel.

Cosmic Mail: Landing cancel and Mir octagonal boardcancel, make a entire with the "Progress 41" cover.

Ref.: #1, #7(JR011,13), #8, #10, #16, #210, #411 - update: 03.09.25

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