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Mir EP-2

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Mir EP-2
Mission typeMir visiting crew
Mission duration9.84 days[1] (launch to landing)
Expedition
Space stationMir
Began7 June 1988 (1988-06-07)
Ended17 June 1988 (1988-06-18)
Arrived aboardSoyuz TM-5[1]
Departed aboardSoyuz TM-4[1]
Crew
Crew sizeThree
MembersAnatoly Solovyev
Viktor Savinykh
Aleksandr Aleksandrov
CallsignРодни́к (Rodnik- Spring)
Mir Visiting Expeditions
← EP-1
EP-3 →

Mir EP-2 was a visiting expedition to the Mir space station conducted in June 1988 by cosmonauts Anatoly Solovyev, Viktor Savinykh and Aleksandr Aleksandrov. Launched aboard the Soyuz TM-5 spacecraft, the crew spent ten days in space before returning to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-4. The mission occurred while the EO-3 crew were aboard Mir.

Solovyev commanded the mission, with Savinykh as his flight engineer, while Bulgarian Aleksandr Panayatov Aleksandrov flew as a research cosmonaut. Aleksandrov was the second Bulgarian to fly in space, the first being Georgi Ivanov, who flew on Soyuz 33. Ivanov failed to reach the Salyut 6 space station as his mission was aborted prior to docking due to an engine failure aboard his spacecraft Soyuz 33.[2] As a result, prior to EP-2, Bulgaria was the only Eastern European Soviet ally to not have one of its citizens visit a Soviet space station.[3]

Crew

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Mir EP-2 Name Spaceflight Launch Landing Duration
Commander Soviet Union Anatoly Solovyev First 7 June 1988
Soyuz TM-5
17 June 1988
Soyuz TM-4
9.8 days
Flight Engineer Soviet Union Viktor Savinykh Third
Research cosmonaut Bulgaria Aleksandr Aleksandrov First

Experiments

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During his visit, Aleksandrov used nearly 2,000 kg of equipment delivered by Progress spacecraft to conduct 46 experiments in the Shipka programme.

Landing

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The visiting EP-2 crew returned to Earth about a week later in the spacecraft Soyuz TM-4, leaving TM-5 as the station's lifeboat.[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Mir EP-2". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 8 January 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  2. ^ "Salyut 6 EP-5-1". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on January 9, 2004. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
  3. ^ D.S.F. Portree. "Mir Hardware Heritage" (PDF). NASA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 September 2009. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  4. ^ "Mir EP-2". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 8 January 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2010.