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 |
| 1997 Jan 12 |
09:27 |
Space Shuttle Atlantis launched from Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center on mission STS-81 into orbit of 241 x 297 kilometres at 51.6 degrees inclination with crew consisting of Michael Baker (commander), Brent Jett (pilot), mission specialists John Grunsfeld, Marsha Ivins, Peter Wisoff, and Jerry Linenger |
| 1997 Jan 15 |
03:54 |
Atlantis docks with the Orbiter Docking System unit on the front port of KristallKristall - orbit is 381 x 391 kilometres |
| 1997 Jan 20 |
02:15 |
Atlantis undocks from Mir carring Readdy, Wilcutt, Apt, Akers, Walz and Lucid - it performs a flyaround of Mir before departing |
| 1997 Jan 22 |
13:17 |
Atlantis fires its OMS engines to initiate re-entry |
| 1997 Jan 22 |
14:22 |
Atlantis lands on the Kennedy Space Center runway |
| 1997 Jan 22 |
14:23 |
Wheel stop - Atlantis STS-81 mission is over |
| 1997 Feb 6 |
12:13 |
Progress M-33 undocks from Mir |
| 1997 Feb 7 |
16:28 |
Soyuz TM-24 undocks from Mir with Dezhurov, Strekalov and Thagard aboard |
| 1997 Feb 7 |
16:51 |
Soyuz TM-24 re-docks with the rear port of Kvant after photographing Shuttle Atlantis as it undocks - the re-docking has to be speeded up when one of the Mir computers goes offline and the station begins to rotate - orbit is 378 x 394 kilometres |
| 1997 Feb 10 |
14:09 |
Soyuz TM-25 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 200 x 254 kilometre orbit at 51.6 degrees inclination with cosmonauts Vasili Tsibliyev, Aleksandr Lazyutkin and Ewald Reinhold (Germany) aboard |
| 1997 Feb 12 |
15:51 |
Soyuz TM-25 docks with Mir's forward-facing port - orbit is 391 x 398 kilometres |
| 1997 Feb 23 |
|
An oxygen-generating candle aboard Mir catches fire and fills the station with smoke - the crew uses fire extinguishers to put it out |
| 1997 Mar 2 |
03:24 |
Soyuz TM-24 undocks from Mir with Korzun, Kaleri and Reinhold aboard |
| 1997 Mar 2 |
05:50 |
Soyuz TM-24 makes its retro-fire |
| 1997 Mar 2 |
06:44 |
Soyuz TM-24 lands |
| 1997 Mar 4 |
07:08 |
Progress M-33 has returned to the vicinity of Mir to be used in a test of the TORU remote control system |
| 1997 Mar 4 |
07:41 |
Under remote control, Progress M-33 fails to dock with Kvant |
| 1997 Mar 4 |
07:45 |
Mission controllers call off the TORU test with Mir and Progress M-33 |
| 1997 Mar 4 |
07:45 |
Progress M-33 has returned to the vicinity of Mir - as a test of the TORU remote control system, the Mir crew attempt to re-dock Progress M-33 it but are unsuccessful and the attempt is called off |
| 1997 Mar 12 |
03:23 |
After a retro-firing of its manoeuvring engine, Progress M-33 enters the upper atmosphere and burns up as a result of frictional heating |
| 1997 Mar 22 |
01:03 |
Atlantis undocks from Mir carring Precourt, Collins, Clervoy, Noriega, Lu, Kondakova, Linenger ) |
| 1997 Mar 24 |
12:23 |
Atlantis fires its OMS engines to initiate re-entry after a one-orbit waive-off due to low cloud at KSC |
| 1997 Mar 24 |
13:27 |
Atlantis lands on the Kennedy Space Center runway |
| 1997 Mar 24 |
13:28 |
Wheel stop - Atlantis STS-84 mission is over |
| 1997 Apr 6 |
16:04 |
Progress M-34 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into approximately 187 x 227 kilometre orbit at 51.6 degrees inclination |
| 1997 Apr 8 |
17:30 |
Progress M-34 docks automatically with the rear port of Kvant - orbit is 378 x 392 kilometres |
| 1997 Apr 19 |
|
Space Shuttle Atlantis starts its rollout to the Pad for mission STS-84 |
| 1997 Apr 29 |
05:10 |
Tsibilev and Linenger start a space walk to retrieve experimental material from outside Mir |
| 1997 Apr 29 |
10:08 |
Tsibilev and Linenger finish their space walk after 4 hours 58 minutes |
| 1997 May 12 |
09:07 |
Space Shuttle Atlantis launched from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center on mission STS-84 into orbit of 241 x 297 kilometres at 51.6 degrees inclination with crew consisting of Charles Precourt (commander), Eileen Collins (pilot), mission specialists Michael Foale, Carlos Noriega, Edward Lu, Jean-Francois Clervoy (ESA astronaut - France) and Yelena Kondakova (Russia) |
| 1997 May 17 |
02:33 |
Atlantis docks with the Orbiter Docking System unit on the front port of Kristall - orbit is 381 x 391 kilometres |
| 1997 Jun 24 |
10:22 |
Progress M-34 undocks from Mir |
| 1997 Jun 25 |
09:10 |
During a test of the TORU remote control system, Progress M-34 collides with Mir's Spektr module, causing it to depressurise - the crew of Mir has to take emergency action to prevent the atmosphere being expelled from the rest f the station |
| 1997 Jul 2 |
05:34 |
Progress M-34 makes a retro-rocket firing |
| 1997 Jul 2 |
06:31 |
Progress M-34 enters the upper atmosphere and burns up as a result of frictional heating |
| 1997 Jul 5 |
04:11 |
Progress M-35 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 178 x 212 kilometre orbit at 51.6 degrees inclination |
| 1997 Jul 7 |
05:59 |
Progress M-35 docks automatically with the rear port of Kvant - orbit is 386 x 392 kilometres |
| 1997 Aug 5 |
15:35 |
Soyuz TM-26 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 188 x 232 kilometre orbit at 51.6 degrees inclination with cosmonauts Vladimir Solovyov and Pavel Vinogradov aboard |
| 1997 Aug 6 |
11:46 |
Progress M-35 undocks from Mir in order to vacate the Kvant docking port for use by the upcoming Soyuz TM-26 |
| 1997 Aug 7 |
17:02 |
Soyuz TM-26 docks with the rear port of Kvant - orbit is 386 x 392 kilometres |
| 1997 Aug 14 |
08:55 |
Soyuz TM-25 undocks from Mir with Tsibliyev and Lazyutkin aboard |
| 1997 Aug 14 |
11:21 |
Soyuz TM-25 makes its retro-fire |
| 1997 Aug 14 |
12:17 |
Soyuz TM-25 lands - the touchdown rockets fail to fire, giving the crew a very rough landing |
| 1997 Aug 15 |
13:29 |
Soyuz TM-26 undocks from Mir with Solovyov, Vinogradov and Foale aboard |
| 1997 Aug 15 |
14:13 |
After Mir has executed a 180 degree rotation, Soyuz TM-26 re-docks with Mir's forward-facing port - orbit is 385 x 392 kilometres |
| 1997 Aug 17 |
12:15 |
Approximate time - an attempt to re-dock Progress M-35 with the ,b>Kvant docking port fails as a result of incorrect data being loaded in the Progress M-35 computer |
| 1997 Aug 18 |
|
Space Shuttle Atlantis starts its rollout to the Pad for mission STS-86 |
| 1997 Aug 18 |
11:52 |
Progress M-35 docks automatically with the rear port of Kvant for a second time - orbit is 385 x 392 kilometres |
| 1997 Aug 22 |
11:14 |
Solovyov and Vinogradov start a space walk within Mir to inspect the damaged Spektr module - the event had begun earlier but a problem with a seal on one of Vinogradov's gloves meant that depressurisation had to be reversed in order for him to change it |
| 1997 Aug 22 |
14:30 |
Solovyov and Vinogradov finish their space walk after 3 hours 16 minutes |
| 1997 Sep 6 |
01:07 |
Solovyov and Foale start a space walk to inspect the Spektr hull - on cutting away insulaing material, they are unable to locate any damage that might relate to an air leak |
| 1997 Sep 6 |
07:07 |
Solovyov and Foale finish their space walk after 6 hours 00 minutes |
| 1997 Sep 15 |
|
Mir crew moves into Soyuz TM-26 while the station makes a 500 metre close pass by the MSTI-2 satellite as their orbits cross |
| 1997 Sep 26 |
02:34 |
Space Shuttle Atlantis launched from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center on mission STS-86 into orbit of 256 x 298 kilometres at 51.6 degrees inclination with crew consisting of James Wetherbee (commander), Michael Bloomfiled (pilot), mission specialists Vladimir Titov (Russia), Jean-Loup Chretien (France), Wendy Lawrence and David Wolf |
| 1997 Sep 27 |
19:58 |
Atlantis docks with the Orbiter Docking System unit on the front port of KristallKristall - orbit is 384 x 390 kilometres |
| 1997 Oct 1 |
17:29 |
Titov and Parazynski start a space walk from Atlantis to move, from the cargo bay to the outside of the Orbiter Docking System, a seal that can be used to repair damage to Spektr from the collision with Progress M-34 1997 Jun 25 |
| 1997 Oct 1 |
22:30 |
Titov and Parazynski finish their space walk after 5 hours 1 minute |
| 1997 Oct 3 |
17:28 |
Atlantis undocks from Mir carring Wetherbee, Bloomfield, Titov, Parazynski, Chretien, Lawrence and Foale - it performs a flyaround of Mir before departing |
| 1997 Oct 5 |
12:45 |
Approximate time for planned undocking from Mir - the event is postponed because a manually-applied clamp id still present across the Progress/Mir docking interface |
| 1997 Oct 5 |
15:08 |
Progress M-36 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 178 x 212 kilometre orbit at 51.6 degrees inclination |
| 1997 Oct 6 |
20:47 |
Atlantis fires its OMS engines to initiate re-entry |
| 1997 Oct 6 |
21:55 |
Atlantis lands on the Kennedy Space Center runway |
| 1997 Oct 6 |
21:56 |
Wheel stop - Atlantis STS-86 mission is over |
| 1997 Oct 7 |
12:03 |
Progress M-35 undocks from Mir |
| 1997 Oct 7 |
16:41 |
Progress M-35 fires its retro rocket |
| 1997 Oct 7 |
17:23 |
Progress M-35 enters the upper atmosphere and burns up as a result of frictional heating |
| 1997 Oct 8 |
17:07 |
Progress M-36 docks automatically with the rear port of Kvant - orbit is 386 x 392 kilometres |
| 1997 Oct 20 |
09:40 |
Solovyov and Vinogradov start a space walk within Mir to re-connect cables that permit Kvant's solar panels to operate correctly - the cables were cut during the emergency when Kvant was depressurised in the collision with Progress M-34 1997 Jun 25 |
| 1997 Oct 20 |
16:18 |
Solovyov and Vinogradov finish their space walk after 6 hours 38 minutes |
| 1997 Nov 3 |
03:32 |
Solovyov and Vinogradov start a space walk to retract and remove an old solar panel from Kvant and stow it on the core module |
| 1997 Nov 3 |
04:05 |
In the course of their space walk, Solovyov and Vinogradov release 'Sputnik 40', a student-built 1/3 scale model of Sputnik, into orbit |
| 1997 Nov 3 |
09:36 |
Solovyov and Vinogradov finish their space walk after 6 hours 4 minutes - they are unable to seal the outer hatch of Kvant when they re-enter it and have to use the internal section of the module as an airlock |
| 1997 Nov 6 |
00:12 |
Solovyov and Vinogradov start a space walk to install a solar panel on the outside of Kvant to replace the one removed during the previous space walk |
| 1997 Nov 6 |
06:24 |
Solovyov and Vinogradov finish their space walk after 6 hours 12 minutes |
| 1997 Dec 17 |
06:01 |
Progress M-36 undocks from Mir |
| 1997 Dec 19 |
13:20 |
Progress M-36 fires its retro-rocket to initiate re-entry, and after about 50 minutes it enters the upper atmosphere and burns up as a result of frictional heating |
| 1997 Dec 20 |
08:45 |
Progress M-37 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into approx 175 x 225 kilometre orbit at 51.6 degrees inclination |
| 1997 Dec 22 |
10:22 |
Progress M-37 docks automatically with the rear port of Kvant - orbit is 378 x 389 kilometres |
