Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Soyuz TM-8
| Mission Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Mission Name: | Soyuz TM-8 |
| Call Sign: | Ви́тязь (Vityaz - Knight) |
| Number of Crew Members: | 2 |
| Launch: | September 5, 1989 21:38:03 UTC Baikonur LC1 |
| Landing: | February 19, 1990 04:36:18 UTC 55 km NE of Arkalyk |
| Duration: | 166 days 06 hours 58 minutes 15 seconds |
| Number of Orbits: | ~2,680 |
Crew
Mission Parameters
- Mass: 7150 kg
- Perigee: 390 km
- Apogee: 392 km
- Inclination: 51.6°
- Period: 92.4 minutes
Mission Highlights
8th expedition to Mir. Launch vehicle was painted with advertisements. During final approach to Mir (4 m distance), the Kurs system malfunctioned, so Viktorenko took over manual control and withdrew to 20 m. He then docked manually. Spent 166 days attached to Mir.
On September 29 the cosmonauts installed equipment in the docking system in preparation for the arrival of Kvant 2, the first of Mir’s 20-ton add-on modules. Solar storm warnings. On September 30 a powerful flare burst out on the Sun. Initial predictions indicated that the cosmonauts could receive many times the maximum permissible level of radiation. In the event, the cosmonauts received only about as much radiation as they would normally receive in 2 weeks of flight.
It was announced on October 10 that problems with a batch of computer chips pushed back the launch of Mir’s second add-on module by at least 40 days from the planned October 16 launch date. The major focus of Viktorenko and Serebrov’s mission was to receive, check out, and activate the module, so their schedule underwent heavy revision.
| Previous Mission: Soyuz TM-7 |
Soyuz programme | Next Mission: Soyuz TM-9 |
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