Soyuz TM-13

Infobox Space mission
mission_name = Soyuz TM-13
spacecraft_name =
shuttle =
insignia =
sign = Донба́сс (Donbass
crew_members = 3
launch_pad =
launch = October 2, 1991
05:59:38 UTC
Gagarin's Start
begin_spacewalk =
end_spacewalk =
landing = March 25, 1992
08:51:22 UTC
near Dzhezkazgan
duration = 175 days 02 hours 51 minutes 44 seconds
orbits = ~2,730
apogee = 232 km
perigee = 195 km
period = 92.4 minutes
altitude =
inclination = 51.7°
distance =
mass = 7150 kg |
crew_photo =
crew_caption =
previous = Soyuz TM-12
next = Soyuz TM-14 |

Crew

Launched:
*Alexander Volkov (3), Commander
*Toktar Aubakirov (1) - Kazakhstan, Cosmonaut-Researcher
*Franz Viehböck (1) - Austria, Cosmonaut-Researcher

Landed:
*Alexander Volkov (3), Commander
*Sergei Krikalev (2)
*Klaus-Dietrich Flade (1) - Germany

Mission highlights

13th expedition to Mir. Included astronaut from Austria and cosmonaut from soon to be independent Kazakhstan.

Soyuz-TM 13 carried Austrian cosmonaut-researcher Franz Viehböck and still Soviet-Kazakh cosmonaut-researcher Toktar Aubakirov. The flight was unusual for carrying no flight engineer. Veteran Russian cosmonaut Alexandr Volkov commanded. The Austrians paid $7 million to fly Viehböck to Mir, and the Kazakh cosmonaut flew partly in an effort to encourage newly independent Kazakhstan to continue to permit launchings from Baikonur Cosmodrome. The cosmonaut-researchers photographed their respective countries from orbit and conducted the usual range of materials processing and medical experiments. Artsebarsky traded places with Volkov and returned to Earth in Soyuz TM-12.

Spent 175 days docked to Mir. Krikalev, aka "the last Citizen of the USSR ", launched from the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic of the USSR, and landed in independent Kazakhstan.