Soyuz TM-3

This article is about the spacecraft. For the expedition which it launched, see Mir EO-2.

Soyuz TM-3

Mission duration	160 days, 7 hours, 25 minutes, 56 seconds
Orbits completed	~2,580
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	Soyuz-TM
Manufacturer	NPO Energia
Launch mass	7,100 kilograms (15,700 lb)
Crew
Crew size	3
Members	Aleksandr Pavlovich Aleksandrov
Launching	Alexander Viktorenko Muhammed Faris
Landing	Yuri Romanenko Anatoli Levchenko
Callsign	Vityaz (Knight)
Start of mission
Launch date	22 July 1987, 01:59:17 (1987-07-22UTC01:59:17Z) UTC
Rocket	Soyuz-U2
Launch site	Baikonur 1/5
End of mission
Landing date	29 December 1987, 09:16:15 (1987-12-29UTC09:16:16Z) UTC
Landing site	140 kilometres (87 mi) NE of Arkalyk
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee	297 kilometres (185 mi)
Apogee	353 kilometres (219 mi)
Inclination	51.6 degrees
Period	91.0 minutes
Docking with Mir
Soyuz programme (Manned missions) ← Soyuz TM-2 Soyuz TM-4 →

Soyuz TM-3 was the fourth manned spacecraft to visit the Soviet space station Mir. It was launched in July 1987, during the long duration expedition Mir EO-2, and acted as a lifeboat for the second segment of that expedition. There were three people aboard the spacecraft at launch, including the two man crew of the week-long mission Mir EP-1, consisting of Soviet cosmonaut Alexander Viktorenko and Syrian Muhammed Faris. Faris was the first Syrian to travel to space, and as of November 2010, the only one. The third cosmonaut launched was Aleksandr Aleksandrov, who would replace one of the long duration crew members Aleksandr Laveykin of Mir EO-2. Laveykin had been diagnosed by ground-based doctors to have minor heart problems, so he returned to Earth with the EP-1 crew in Soyuz TM-2.

Soyuz TM-3 landed near the end of December 1987, landing both members of the EO-2 crew, as well as potential Buran (spacecraft) shuttle pilot Anatoli Levchenko, who had been launched to Mir a week earlier aboard Soyuz TM-4.

Crew

Position	Launching crew	Landing crew
Commander	Alexander Viktorenko Mir EP-1 First spaceflight	Yuri Romanenko Mir EO-2 Third spaceflight
Flight Engineer	Aleksandr Pavlovich Aleksandrov Mir EO-2 Second spaceflight
Research Cosmonaut	Muhammed Faris Mir EP-1 First spaceflight	Anatoli Levchenko Mir LII-1 First spaceflight

Mission parameters

• Mass: 7100 kg
• Perigee: 297 km
• Apogee: 353 km
• Inclination: 51.6°
• Period: 91.0 minutes