A Chronology of mission events in orbit and on the ground. Mir existed for fifteen years growing from the original 20 tonne core module to a massive 130+ tonnes.
Date (UTC) |
Time (UTC) |
Event |
1989 Feb 7 |
06:45 |
Progress 39 undocks from Mir |
1989 Feb 7 |
12:49 |
Progress 39 fires its manoeuvring engine to initiate re-entry and burns up as a result of frictional heating over the Pacific Ocean after some 40 minutes |
1989 Feb 10 |
08:53 |
Progress 40 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 187 x 244 kilometre orbit at 51.6 degrees inclination |
1989 Feb 12 |
10:29 |
Progress 40 docks at the Mir complex Kvant docking port - orbit is 347 x 364 kilometres |
1989 Mar 3 |
01:45 |
Progress 40 undocks - it then stands-off from Mir while two 'form remembering' structures attached to its hull are unfolded under the observation of the Mir crew |
1989 Mar 5 |
01:08 |
Progress 40 fires its manoeuvring engine to initiate re-entry and burns up as a result of frictional heating over the Pacific Ocean some 40 minutes later |
1989 Mar 16 |
18:54 |
Progress 41 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 187 x 243 kilometre orbit at 51.6 degrees inclination |
1989 Mar 18 |
20:50 |
Progress 41 docks at the Mir complex Kvant docking port - orbit is 349 x 363 kilometres |
1989 Apr 12 |
--- |
The Soviet Union announces that when the current crew leaves Mir on 27 April, the station will remain empty until 1989 August |
1989 Apr 21 |
01:46 |
Progress 41 undocks - Mir orbit is 372 x 416 kilometres, following nearly three months of occasional thruster firings by visiting spacecraft |
1989 Apr 21 |
--- |
Progress 41 fires its manoeuvring engine to lower its orbit as the first part of the re-entry sequence - orbit height is now 213 x 417 kilometres |
1989 Apr 21 |
--- |
Progress 41 continues its re-entry manoeuvre but the engine shuts down early due to insufficient propellant being left in the vehicle tanks - Progress 41 is left in an orbit of 128 x 389 kilometres |
1989 Apr 25 |
--- |
Mir fires its manoeuvring engine and raises its orbit to 401 x 417 kilometres |
1989 Apr 25 |
12:02 |
Progress 41 re-enters the Earth atmosphere as the result of air drag and burns up through frictional heating |
1989 Apr 26 |
23:28 |
Soyuz TM-7 undocks from Mir with Volkov, Krikalyov and Poliakov aboard aboard |
1989 Apr 27 |
02:00 |
Soyuz TM-7 fires its manoeuvring engine to initiate re-entry |
1989 Apr 27 |
02:57 |
Soyuz TM-7 lands near latitude 48.5 degrees north, longitude 69.3 degrees east - Krikalyov injures a leg during the rough landing due to high winds |
1989 Jul 28 |
--- |
The Soviet Union announces that the next long-stay crew aboard Mir will supervise the attachment of two additional modules to the space station |
1989 Aug 23 |
03:10 |
Progress M1, an uprated version of Progress, launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 187 x 217 kilometre orbit at 51.6 degrees inclination |
1989 Aug 25 |
05:19 |
Progress M1 docks at Mir front port - a change from normal routine caused by the logisitics of the upcoming launch of the Kvant 2 module - orbit is 382 x 397 kilometres |
1989 Sep 5 |
21:38 |
Soyuz TM-8 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 197 x 200 kilometre orbit at 51.6 degrees inclination with cosmonauts Aleksandr Viktorenko and Aleksandr Serebrov aboard |
1989 Sep 7 |
22:25 |
Soyuz TM-8 docks with the Mir complex Kvant port - due to a problem with the automatic docking system, the crew takes over manual control at the last moment when Soyuz TM-8 is 4 metres from the docking port - the docking is delayed by five minutes while the crew backs-off to 20 metres and approaches for a second time - Mir orbit is 381 x 395 kilometres |
1989 Sep 15 |
--- |
The Soviet Union announces that the next module for Mir will be launched 1989 October 16 |
1989 Oct 12 |
--- |
The Soviet Union announces a forty day delay in the launch of Mir next module due to the possibility of the presence of faulty microchips in their onboard computers - the planned launch of another module is delayed until spring 1990 for the same reason |
1989 Nov 26 |
13:01 |
Kvant 2 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Proton rocket into 215 x 321 kilometre orbit at 51.6 degrees inclination - initially, one solar panel fails to deploy but engineers succeed in releasing it before the docking with Mir |
1989 Dec 1 |
09:02 |
Progress M1 undocks from Mir |
1989 Dec 1 |
10:32 |
Progress M1 fires its manoeuvring engine to initiate re-entry and burns up as a result of frictional heating over the Pacific Ocean after some 40 minutes |
1989 Dec 2 |
--- |
Kvant 2 approaches Mir but the closing speed is too fast and the automatic docking system aborts the docking while Kvant 2 still has 20 kilometres to run - Kvant 2 passes 2-3 kilometres from Mir - Kvant 2's orbit is 371 x 398 kilometres |
1989 Dec 6 |
12:21 |
Kvant 2 docks with Mir forward port - orbit is 394 x 398 kilometres |
1989 Dec 8 |
07:19 |
Using Mir 'Ljappa' manipulator arm, Kvant 2 is deteched from Mir forward port and moved to the upper port on the forward-facing docking hub |
1989 Dec 8 |
08:00 |
Kvant 2 re-docking is completed |
1989 Dec 12 |
08:22 |
Soyuz TM-8 undocks with Viktorenko and Serebrov aboard |
1989 Dec 12 |
08:42 |
Approx time - after Mir has completed a 180 degree rotation, Soyuz TM-7 docks with the forward port |
1989 Dec 20 |
03:30 |
Progress M-2 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 187 x 212 kilometre orbit at 51.6 degrees inclination |
1989 Dec 22 |
05:41 |
Progress M-2 docks at the Mir complex Kvant docking port - orbit is 392 x 395 kilometres |
