Mir EP-2
Short-term expedition to Mir space station
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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.
| Mission type | Mir visiting crew |
|---|---|
| Mission duration | 9.84 days[1] (launch to landing) |
| Expedition | |
| Space station | Mir |
| Began | 7 June 1988 |
| Ended | 17 June 1988 |
| Arrived aboard | Soyuz TM-5[1] |
| Departed aboard | Soyuz TM-4[1] |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | Three |
| Members | Anatoly Solovyev Viktor Savinykh Aleksandr Aleksandrov |
| Callsign | Родни́к (Rodnik- Spring) |
|
Mir Visiting Expeditions | |
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
| Mir EP-2 | Name | Spaceflight | Launch | Landing | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commander |  Anatoly Solovyev |
First | 7 June 1988 Soyuz TM-5 |
17 June 1988 Soyuz TM-4 |
9.8 days |
| Flight Engineer | Viktor Savinykh |
Third | |||
| Research cosmonaut |  Aleksandr Aleksandrov |
First |
Experiments
During his visit, Aleksandrov used nearly 2,000 kg of equipment delivered by Progress spacecraft to conduct 46 experiments in the Shipka programme.
Landing
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]