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Mir Space Station


Tyneside, UK
2024 Mar 28
Thursday, Day 88

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Mir Diary - 1996

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 Time (UTC) Event
1996 Feb 8 14:03 Gidzenko and Reiter start a space walk to retrieve scientific samples from the European Space Exposure Facility (ESEF) on the outside of Mir that Reiter placed there 1995 October
1996 Feb 8 17:08 Gidzenko and Reiter finish their space walk after 3 hrs 6 minutes - earlier than anticipated due to one of their power tools having insufficient strength to complete the job
1996 Feb 21 12:34 Soyuz TM-23 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 200 x 234 kilometre orbit at 51.6 degrees inclination with cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko, Yuri Onufrienko and Yuri Usachyov aboard
1996 Feb 22 07:24 Progress M-30 docks automatically with the rear port of Kvant - orbit is 391 x 399 kilometres
1996 Feb 22 11:02 Progress M-30 docks automatically with the rear port of Kvant - orbit is 391 x 399 kilometres
1996 Feb 23 14:20 Soyuz TM-23 docks with Mir's forward-facing port - orbit is 391 x 398 kilometres
1996 Feb 29 07:20 Soyuz TM-22 undocks from Mir with Gidzenko, Avdeyev and Reiter aboard
1996 Feb 29 09:47 Soyuz TM-22 makes its retro-fire
1996 Feb 29 10:42 Soyuz TM-22 lands
1996 Mar 15 01:04 Onufrienko and Usachyov start a space walk to install a second 'Strela' crane on the outside of Mir
1996 Mar 15 06:56 Onufrienko and Usachyov finish their space walk after 5 hours 52 minutes
1996 Mar 19 23:45 Planned launch of Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-76 (due 1996 Mar 20 08:34) postponed because of high winds
1996 Mar 22 08:13 Space Shuttle Atlantis launched from Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center on mission STS-76 into orbit of 226 x 295 kilometres at 51.6 degrees inclination with crew consisting of Kevin Chilton (commander), Richard Searfoss (pilot), mission specialists Ronald Sega, Michael Clifford, Linda Godwin, and Shannon Lucid
1996 Mar 24 02:34 Atlantis docks with the Orbiter Docking System unit on the front port of KristallKristall - orbit is 390 x 398 kilometres
1996 Mar 27 06:36 Godwin and Clifford start a space walk from Atlantis to move equipment from the cargo bay to the exterior of the Mir Orbiter Docking System and to remove a camera from the outside of the Orbiter Docking System
1996 Mar 27 12:38 Godwin and Clifford finish their space walk after 6 hours 2 minutes
1996 Mar 29 01:08 Atlantis undocks from Mir carring Chilton, Searfoss, Sega, Clifford and Godwin - it performs a flyaround of Mir before departing
1996 Mar 30 A plan is made to bring-back Atlantis one day early due to the forecast weather in the Kennedy area on the originally planned day - in the even, weather prevents the attempt being made
1996 Mar 31 12:23 Atlantis fires its OMS engines to initiate re-entry
1996 Mar 31 13:28 Atlantis lands on the Edwards Air Force Base runway
1996 Mar 31 13:29 Wheel stop - Atlantis STS-76 mission is over
1996 Apr 23 11:48 Priroda launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Proton rocket into 214 x 328 kilometre orbit at 51.6 degrees inclination, on reaching orbit - controllers discover that the module is short of battery power (it has no solar panels) and will only be able to make one docking attempt with Mir
1996 Apr 26 12:43 Priroda docks with Mir forward port - orbit is 391 x 396 kilometres
1996 Apr 27 Using Mir's 'Ljappa' manipulator arm, Priroda is undocked from Mir forward port and moved to the left hand (as viewed from inside Mir) port on the forward-facing docking hub
1996 May 5 07:04 Progress M-31 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 186 x 227 kilometre orbit at 51.6 degrees inclination
1996 May 7 08:54 Progress M-31 docks automatically with docks automatically with Mir's forward-facing port - orbit is 391 x 396 kilometres
1996 May 20 22:50 Onufrienko and Usachyov start a space walk to move a solar panel from its storage location on the Orbiter Docking System and fix it to Kvant - they use the 'Strela-2' crane
1996 May 21 04:10 Onufrienko and Usachyov finish their space walk after 5 hours 20 minutes
1996 May 24 20:47 Onufrienko and Usachyov start a space walk to complete electrical connection of the new solar panel on Kvant
1996 May 25 02:30 Onufrienko and Usachyov finish their space walk after 5 hours 43 minutes
1996 May 30 18:20 Onufrienko and Usachyov start a space walk to install the European MOMS-2 multi-spectral Earth Resources camera on the Priroda science platform
1996 May 30 22:40 Onufrienko and Usachyov finish their space walk after 4 hours 20 minutes
1996 Jun 6 16:56 Onufrienko and Usachyov start a space walk to retrieve and install long duration exposure samples on the outside of Mir
1996 Jun 6 20:30 Onufrienko and Usachyov finish their space walk after 3 hours 34 minutes
1996 Jun 13 12:45 Onufrienko and Usachyov start a space walk to undertake some assembly work and to film a sequence involving a assembled a 1.3 metre-tall aluminum and nylon copy of a Pepsi can and a banner - 'Even in space . . . Pepsi is changing the script'
1996 Jun 13 18:27 Onufrienko and Usachyov finish their space walk after 5 hours 42 minutes
1996 Jul 1 02:30 Space Shuttle Atlantis starts its rollout to the Pad for mission STS-79
1996 Jul 31 20:00 Progress M-32 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 186 x 229 kilometre orbit at 51.6 degrees inclination
1996 Aug 1 16:44 Progress M-31 undocks from Mir
1996 Aug 1 19:44 Progress M-31 makes a retro-rocket firing
1996 Aug 1 20:33 Progress M-31 enters the upper atmosphere and burns up as a result of frictional heating
1996 Aug 1 22:03 Progress M-32 docks automatically with docks automatically with Mir's forward-facing port - orbit is 375 x 391kilometres
1996 Aug 17 13:18 Soyuz TM-24 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 191 x 226 kilometre orbit at 51.6 degrees inclination with cosmonauts Valery Korzun, Viktor Kaleri and Claudie Haigneré (France) aboard - Claudie is married to ESA astronaut Jean-Pierre Haigneré
1996 Aug 18 09:24 Approximate time - Progress M-32 undocks from Mir's forward port to clear the way fro the upcoming STS-79 Shuttle mission
1996 Aug 19 14:50 Soyuz TM-24 docks automatically with the rear port of Kvant - orbit is 375 x 390 kilometres
1996 Sep 2 04:20 Soyuz TM-23 undocks from Mir with Onufrienko, Usachyov and Claudie Haigneré aboard
1996 Sep 2 06:47 Soyuz TM-23 makes its retro-fire
1996 Sep 2 07:41 Soyuz TM-23 lands
1996 Sep 3 09:35 After 16 days of free flight, Progress M-32 re-docks with Mir - this time at the rear port of Kvant - orbit is 375 x 389 kilometres
1996 Sep 4 09:24 Space Shuttle Atlantis starts to be rolled back to the Assembly Building because of the impending passage of Hurricane 'Fran'
1996 Sep 5 02:51 Space Shuttle Atlantis starts its return to the pad after hurricane 'Fran' has passed
1996 Sep 16 08:54 Space Shuttle Atlantis launched from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center on mission STS-79 into orbit of 244 x 293 kilometres at 51.6 degrees inclination with crew consisting of William Readdy (commander), Terrence Wilcutt (pilot), mission specialists Jerome Apt, Thomas Akers, Carl Walz, and John Blaha
1996 Sep 19 03:13 Atlantis docks with the Orbiter Docking System unit on the front port of KristallKristall - orbit is 376 x 388 kilometres
1996 Sep 24 01:31 Atlantis undocks from Mir carring Readdy, Wilcutt, Apt, Akers, Walz and Lucid - it performs a flyaround of Mir before departing
1996 Sep 26 11:06 Atlantis fires its OMS engines to initiate re-entry
1996 Sep 26 12:13 Atlantis lands on the Edwards Air Force Base runway
1996 Sep 26 12:14 Wheel stop - Atlantis STS-76 mission is over
1996 Nov 19 23:20 Progress M-33 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into approximately 185 x 224 kilometre orbit at 51.6 degrees inclination
1996 Nov 20 19:51 Progress M-32 undocks from Mir for the second time
1996 Nov 20 22:42 Progress M-32 fires its retro rocket - it enters the upper atmosphere about 50 minutes later and burns up as a result of frictional heating
1996 Nov 22 01:01 Progress M-33 docks automatically with the rear port of Kvant - orbit is 371 x 390 kilometres
1996 Dec 2 15:54 Korzun and Kaleri start a space walk to undertake further work on the Kvant solar panel
1996 Dec 2 21:51 Korzun and Kaleri finish their space walk after 5 hours 57 minutes
1996 Dec 9 13:52 Korzun and Kaleri start a space walk to finish work on the Kvant solar panel
1996 Dec 9 20:28 Korzun and Kaleri finish their space walk after 6 hours 36 minutes
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