Soyuz TM-2

Soyuz TM-2

COSPAR ID	1987-013A
SATCAT no.	17482
Crew
Members	2 launched, 3 landed

Soyuz TM-2 was a 1987 Soviet manned mission to the Mir space station. Starting with this mission, the Mir space station was continuously occupied for more than two years.

Crew

Launched:

• Yuri Romanenko (3)
• Aleksandr Laveykin (1)

Landed:

• Alexander Viktorenko (1)
• Aleksandr Laveykin (1)
• Muhammed Faris (1) - Syria

Mission parameters

• Mass: 7100 kg
• Perigee: 341 km
• Apogee: 365 km
• Inclination: 51.6°
• Period: 91.6 minutes

Mission highlights

Soyuz TM-2 was the second expedition to Mir. Yuri Romanenko stayed more than 326 days on Mir. Laveykin developed heart irregularities which made necessary his early return to Earth.

Early in the TM-2 crews stay on Mir, the Kvant-1 module was launched to automatically dock with Mir. Kvant consisted of the space station module (11 tons) and a unique FGB-based vehicle called the Functional Service Module (FSM)(9.6 tons). The FSM carried out major maneuvers on April 2 and April 5. On April 5 its Igla approach system began homing on Mir’s aft port.The Tamyrs retreated to Soyuz-TM 2 so that they could escape in the event the module got out of control. About 200 m out, the Igla system lost its lock on Mir’s aft port Igla antenna. The cosmonauts watched from within Soyuz-TM 2 as the Kvant/ FSM combination passed within 10 m of the station.

Kvant and its FSM drifted 400 km from Mir before being guided back for a second docking attempt. Soft-dock occurred early on April 9. Kvant’s probe unit would not retract fully, preventing hard docking between Mir and Kvant. The Soviets left Kvant soft-docked while they considered a solution. Maneuvers were impossible during this period, because the probe of the Kvant/FSM combination would wobble loosely in Mir’s aft port drogue unit, banging the docking collars together.

On April 11 Romanenko and Laveykin exited Mir to examine and, if possible, repair the problem with Kvant. They discovered a foreign object lodged in the docking unit, probably a trash bag they had left between Progress 28 and Mir’s drogue. On command from the TsUP, Kvant extended its probe unit, permitting the cosmonauts to pull the object free and discard it into space. Kvant then successfully completed docking at a command from the ground. The EVA lasted 3 hr, 40 min. The Kvant FSM undocked from Kvant on April 12, freeing the module’s aft port to fill in for the Mir aft port.