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 |
| 1994 Jan 8 |
10:05 |
Soyuz TM-18 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 204 x 222 kilometre orbit at 51.6 degrees inclination with cosmonauts Viktor Afanasyev, Yuri Usachyov and Valery Polyakov aboard |
| 1994 Jan 10 |
11:50 |
Soyuz TM-18 docks with the rear port of Kvant- orbit is 385 x 392 kilometres |
| 1994 Jan 14 |
04:37 |
Soyuz TM-17 undocks from Mir with Tsibiliyev and Serebrov aboard - about 10 minutes after separation, during a fly-round inspection of Mir, Soyuz TM-17 twice collides with the Kristall module - it is later blamed on an error caused by a switch supplying power to one of the hand controllers being in the 'off' position |
| 1994 Jan 14 |
07:23 |
Approximate time - Soyuz TM-17 makes its retro-fire |
| 1994 Jan 14 |
07:51 |
Soyuz TM-17 descent module separates |
| 1994 Jan 14 |
08:18 |
Soyuz TM-17 lands |
| 1994 Jan 24 |
03:12 |
Soyuz TM-18 undocks from Mir with Afanasyev, Usachyov and Polyakov aboard |
| 1994 Jan 24 |
05:01 |
After Mir has executed a 180 degrees rotation, Soyuz TM-18 docks with Mir's forward-facing port |
| 1994 Jan 28 |
02:12 |
Progress M-21 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 192 x 214 kilometre orbit at 51.6 degrees inclination |
| 1994 Jan 30 |
03:56 |
Progress M-21 docks automatically with the rear port of Kvant - orbit is 385 x 391 kilometres |
| 1994 Mar 3 |
03:28 |
Seven months after leaving Mir, Progress M-17's orbit has decayed sufficiently for retro-fire to ensure re-entry, it enters the upper atmosphere and burns up as a result of frictional heating |
| 1994 Mar 22 |
04:54 |
Progress M-22 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 186 x 221 kilometre orbit at 51.6 degrees inclination |
| 1994 Mar 23 |
01:20 |
Progress M-21 undocks from Mir |
| 1994 Mar 23 |
04:29 |
Progress M-21 fires its retro rocket |
| 1994 Mar 23 |
05:13 |
Progress M-21 enters the upper atmosphere and burns up as a result of frictional heating |
| 1994 Mar 24 |
06:39 |
Progress M-22 docks automatically with the rear port of Kvant - orbit is 382 x 404 kilometres |
| 1994 May 22 |
04:30 |
Progress M-23 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 185 x 229 kilometre orbit at 51.6 degrees inclination |
| 1994 May 23 |
00:58 |
Progress M-22 undocks from Mir |
| 1994 May 23 |
04:40 |
After a retro-firing of its manoeuvring engine, Progress M-22 enters the upper atmosphere and burns up as a result of frictional heating |
| 1994 May 24 |
06:18 |
Progress M-23 docks automatically with the rear port of Kvant - orbit is 398 x 400 kilometres |
| 1994 Jul 1 |
12:24 |
Soyuz TM-19 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 190 x 207 kilometre orbit at 51.6 degrees inclination with cosmonautsYuri Malenchenkov and Talbat Musabeyev aboard |
| 1994 Jul 2 |
08:46 |
Progress M-23 undocks from Mir |
| 1994 Jul 2 |
14:44 |
Progress M-23 fires its retro-rocket to initiate re-entry |
| 1994 Jul 2 |
14:55 |
A Raduga re-entry capsule is ejected from the Progress M-23 forward hatch and continues on its own re-entry patch |
| 1994 Jul 2 |
15:09 |
Progress M-23's Raduga capsule lands in Russia for a safe recovery |
| 1994 Jul 2 |
|
Progress M-23 enters the upper atmosphere and burns up as a result of frictional heating |
| 1994 Jul 3 |
13:55 |
Soyuz TM-19 docks with the rear port of Kvant - orbit is 396 x 400 kilometres |
| 1994 Jul 9 |
07:12 |
Soyuz TM-18 undocks from Mir with Afanasyev and Usachyov aboard |
| 1994 Jul 9 |
09:37 |
Soyuz TM-18 makes its retro-fire |
| 1994 Jul 9 |
10:06 |
Soyuz TM-18 descent module separates |
| 1994 Jul 9 |
10:32 |
Soyuz TM-18 lands |
| 1994 Aug 25 |
14:25 |
Progress M-24 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 185 x 217 kilometre orbit at 51.6 degrees inclination |
| 1994 Aug 27 |
16:00 |
Approximate time - Progress M-24 is approaching Mir's forward-facing port and the automatic system cancels the docking when at a range of 150 metres |
| 1994 Aug 30 |
14:56 |
A second automatic approach to Mir by Progress M-24 fails - this time the two spacecraft bump together several times - later, engineers determine that failure of the sutomatic system stems from unexpected reflections of the homing radio signal from the two docked modules, Kvant 2 and Kristall |
| 1994 Sep 2 |
13:30 |
Progress M-24 docks with Mir's forward-facing port at the third attempt - this time under the control of Mir's crew using the TORU remote control system - orbit is 396 x 398 kilometres |
| 1994 Sep 9 |
07:00 |
Musabeyev and Malenchenko start a space walk to repair some of the station's external insulation that had been damaged by the collision with Soyuz TM-17 during the fly-around inspection as it departed 1994 Jan 14 - they also confirm that no damage was done in the minor collision with Progress M-24 1994 Aug 30 |
| 1994 Sep 9 |
12:06 |
Musabeyev and Malenchenko finish their space walk after 5 hours 6 minutes |
| 1994 Sep 13 |
06:31 |
Musabeyev and Malenchenko start a space walk to inspect some of Mir's external elements |
| 1994 Sep 13 |
12:32 |
Musabeyev and Malenchenko finish their space walk after 6 hours 1 minute |
| 1994 Oct 3 |
22:42 |
Soyuz TM-20 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 194 x 233 kilometre orbit at 51.6 degrees inclination with cosmonauts Aleksandr Viktorenko, Yelena Kondakova, and Ulf Merbold (ESA astronaut - Germany) aboard |
| 1994 Oct 4 |
18:55 |
Progress M-24 undocks from Mir |
| 1994 Oct 4 |
22:43 |
After a retro-firing of its manoeuvring engine, Progress M-24 enters the upper atmosphere and burns up as a result of frictional heating |
| 1994 Oct 5 |
18:55 |
After the crew has to take manual control because of excessive yaw by Soyuz TM-20 on the approach/, Soyuz TM-20 docks with Mir's forward-facing port - orbit is 394 x 398 kilometres |
| 1994 Nov 2 |
10:40 |
Soyuz TM-19 undocks from Mir with Malenchenkov, Musabeyev and Merbold aboard |
| 1994 Nov 2 |
11:15 |
Soyuz TM-19 re-docks with Kvant rear port after testing an updated version of the 'Kurs' docking system |
| 1994 Nov 4 |
08:31 |
Soyuz TM-19 undocks from Mir with Malenchov, Musabeyev and Merbold aboard |
| 1994 Nov 4 |
10:22 |
Soyuz TM-19 makes its retro-fire |
| 1994 Nov 4 |
10:51 |
Soyuz TM-19 descent module separates |
| 1994 Nov 4 |
10:56 |
Soyuz TM-19 descent module enters the Earth's atmosphere |
| 1994 Nov 4 |
11:18 |
Soyuz TM-19 lands |
| 1994 Nov 11 |
07:21 |
Progress M-25 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 184 x 238 kilometre orbit at 51.6 degrees inclination |
| 1994 Nov 13 |
09:04 |
Progress M-25 docks automatically with the rear port of Kvant - orbit is 393 x 395 kilometres |
