| Mission type | Mir crew transport |
|---|---|
| Operator | Rosaviakosmos |
| COSPAR ID | 1994-001A |
| SATCATno. | 22957 |
| Mission duration | 182 days, 27 minutes, 1 second |
| Orbits completed | ~2,910 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Soyuz 7K-STM No. 67 |
| Spacecraft type | Soyuz-TM |
| Manufacturer | NPO Energia |
| Launch mass | 7,150 kilograms (15,760 lb) |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 3 up 2 down |
| Members | Viktor Afanasyev Yury Usachov |
| Launching | Valeri Polyakov |
| Callsign | Дербе́нт (Derbent) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | January 8, 1994, 10:05:34 (1994-01-08UTC10:05:34Z) UTC |
| Rocket | Soyuz-U2 |
| Launch site | Baikonur1/5 |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | July 9, 1994, 10:32:35 (1994-07-09UTC10:32:36Z) UTC |
| Landing site | 110 kilometres (68 mi) north ofArkalyk |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Perigee altitude | 384 kilometres (239 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 390 kilometres (240 mi) |
| Inclination | 51.6 degrees |
| Period | 92.29 minutes |
| Epoch | 7 February 1994390 kilometres (240 mi)[1] |
| Docking withMir | |
| Docking port | Kvant-1 aft |
| Docking date | 10 January 1994, 11:50:20 UTC |
| Undocking date | 9 July 1994, 07:12:59 UTC |
Soyuz programme (Crewed missions) | |
Soyuz TM-18 was launched fromBaikonur Cosmodrome and landed 112 km north of Arkalyk. TM-18 was a two-day solo flight that docked with theMir space station on January 10, 1994. The three cosmonauts became the 15th resident crew on boardMir. The crew did research work in space flight medicine, primarily by cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov during his long-term flight, and accomplished 25 different experiments.
| Position | Launching crew | Landing crew |
|---|---|---|
| Commander | Viktor Afanasyev Second spaceflight | |
| Flight engineer | Yury Usachov First spaceflight | |
| Research cosmonaut | Valeri Polyakov Second and last spaceflight | None |
18th expedition toMir.
Afanasyev and Usachev spent 179 days on Mir. Dr. Polyakov was slated toreturn to Earth on Soyuz-TM 20 in March 1995, after more than 420 days onMir.