Soyuz TM-11

Infobox Space mission
mission_name = Soyuz TM-11
spacecraft_name =
shuttle =
insignia =
sign = Дербе́нт (Derbent)
crew_members = 3
launch_pad =
launch = December 2, 1990
08:13:32 UTC
Gagarin's Start
begin_spacewalk =
end_spacewalk =
landing = May 26, 1991
10:04:13 UTC
near Dzhezkazgan
duration = 175 days 01 hours 50 minutes 41 seconds
orbits = ~2,735
apogee = 400 km
perigee = 367 km
period = 92.2 minutes
altitude =
inclination = 51.6°
distance =
mass = 7150 kg |
crew_photo =
crew_caption =
previous = Soyuz TM-10
next = Soyuz TM-12 |

Crew

Launched:
*Viktor Afanasyev (1)
*Musa Manarov (2)
*Toyohiro Akiyama (1), Reporter - Japan

Landed:
*Viktor Afanasyev (1)
*Musa Manarov (2)
*Helen Sharman (1) - United Kingdom

Mission highlights

11th expedition to Mir. Toyohiro Akiyama was a reporter/space tourist for a Japanese television network.

Spent 175 days docked to Mir. Its launch shroud and Soyuz booster werepainted with the Japanese flag and advertisements. A camera inside thedescent module filmed the cosmonauts during ascent for Akiyama’s network.

Viktor Afanaseyev, Musa Manarov (on his second Mir visit), and Japanese television journalist Toyohiro Akiyama were welcomed aboard Mir by the Vulkans. Akiyama’s network, the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS), paid for the flight. The Soviets called this their first commercial spaceflight and claimed to have earned $14 million. The journalist was scheduled to make one 10-min TV broadcast and two 20-min radio broadcasts each day. Electrical power and video and TV system incompatibilities forced the Japanese to make extensive use of converters. His equipment, which weighed about 170 kg, was delivered by Progress-M spacecraft and set up in advance by Manakov and Strekalov. On December 5 Akiyama’s couch was transferred to Soyuz-TM 10. On December 8 Manakov and Strekalov commenced loading Soyuz-TM 10’s descent module with film and experiment results. TBS broadcast Akiyama’s landing live from Kazakhstan.

Trivia

Soyuz TM-11 was launched the same day as STS-35.