Soyuz TM-20 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Soyuz TM-20

Mission type	Mir crew transport
Operator	Rosaviakosmos
Mission duration	169 days, 5 hours, 21 minutes, 35 seconds
Orbits completed	~2,760
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Soyuz 7K-STM No.69
Spacecraft type	Soyuz-TM
Manufacturer	RKK Energia
Launch mass	7,170 kilograms (15,810 lb)
Crew
Crew size	3
Members	Aleksandr Viktorenko Yelena Kondakova
Launching	Ulf Merbold
Landing	Valeri Polyakov
Callsign	Ви́тязь (Vityaz' – Knight)
Start of mission
Launch date	October 3, 1994, 22:42:30 (1994-10-03UTC22:42:30Z) UTC
Rocket	Soyuz-U2
Launch site	Baikonur 1/5
End of mission
Landing date	March 22, 1995, 04:04:05 (1995-03-22UTC04:04:06Z) UTC
Landing site	50°31′N 67°21′E / 50.52°N 67.35°E / 50.52; 67.35
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee	392 kilometres (244 mi)
Apogee	394 kilometres (245 mi)
Inclination	51.6 degrees
Period	92.42 minutes
Epoch	3 November 1994
Docking with Mir
Docking port	Core forward
Docking date	6 October 1994, 00:28:15 UTC
Undocking date	22 March 1995, 00:43:08 UTC
Soyuz programme (Crewed missions) ← Soyuz TM-19 Soyuz TM-21 →

Soyuz TM-20 was the twentieth expedition to the Russian Space Station Mir. It launched Russian cosmonauts Aleksandr Viktorenko, Yelena Kondakova, and German cosmonaut Ulf Merbold.

Mir as seen from Space Shuttle Discovery during STS-63, with Soyuz TM-20 seen at the top

Crew

Position	Launching crew	Landing crew
Commander	Aleksandr Viktorenko Fourth and last spaceflight
Flight Engineer	Yelena Kondakova First spaceflight
Research Cosmonaut	Ulf Merbold Third and last spaceflight	Valeri Polyakov Second and last spaceflight

Mission highlights

The flight carried 10 kg of equipment for use by Merbold in ESA's month-long Euromir 94 experiment program. During automatic approach to Mir's front port, the spacecraft yawed unexpectedly. Viktorenko completed a manual docking without additional incident.