Soyuz TM-11

Soyuz TM-11

Mission duration	175 days, 1 hour, 50 minutes, 41 seconds
Orbits completed	~2,735
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	Soyuz-TM
Manufacturer	NPO Energia
Launch mass	7,150 kilograms (15,760 lb)
Crew
Crew size	3
Members	Viktor Afanasyev Musa Manarov
Launching	Toyohiro Akiyama
Landing	Helen Sharman
Callsign	Дербе́нт (Derbent)
Start of mission
Launch date	December 2, 1990, 08:13:32 (1990-12-02UTC08:13:32Z) UTC
Rocket	Soyuz-U2
End of mission
Landing date	May 26, 1991, 10:04:13 (1991-05-26UTC10:04:14Z) UTC
Landing site	near Dzhezkazgan
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee	367 kilometres (228 mi)
Apogee	400 kilometres (250 mi)
Inclination	51.6 degrees
Period	92.2 minutes
Docking with Mir
Soyuz programme (Manned missions) ← Soyuz TM-10 Soyuz TM-12 →

The Soyuz-TM crew transports (T - транспортный - Transportnyi - meaning transport, M - модифицированный - Modifitsirovannyi- meaning modified) were fourth generation (1986–2002) Soyuz spacecraft used for ferry flights to the Mir and ISS space stations. It added to the Soyuz-T new docking and rendezvous, radio communications, emergency and integrated parachute/landing engine systems. The new Kurs rendezvous and docking system permitted the Soyuz-TM to maneuver independently of the station, without the station making "mirror image" maneuvers to match unwanted translations introduced by earlier models' aft-mounted attitude control.

Soyuz TM-11 was the eleventh expedition to the Russian Space Station Mir.

Crew

Position	Launching crew	Landing crew
Commander	Viktor Afanasyev First spaceflight
Flight Engineer	Musa Manarov Second spaceflight
Research Cosmonaut	Toyohiro Akiyama (Reporter) First spaceflight	Helen Sharman First spaceflight Project Juno

Mission highlights

Soyuz TM-11 was launched the same day as STS-35.

11th expedition to Mir. Toyohiro Akiyama was a reporter for the Japanese television network Tokyo Broadcasting System.

Spent 175 days docked to Mir. Its launch shroud and Soyuz booster were painted with the Japanese flag and advertisements for Sony, Unicharm, and Otsuka Pharmaceutical. A camera inside the descent module filmed the cosmonauts during ascent for Akiyama’s network.

Viktor Afanaseyev, Musa Manarov (on his second Mir visit), and Japanese television journalist Toyohiro Akiyama were welcomed aboard Mir by Soviet cosmonauts. Akiyama’s network paid for the flight. The Soviets called this their first commercial spaceflight and claimed to have earned $14 million. The journalist was scheduled to make one 10-min TV broadcast and two 20-min radio broadcasts each day. Electrical power and video and TV system incompatibilities forced the Japanese to make extensive use of converters. His equipment, which weighed about 170 kg, was delivered by Progress-M spacecraft and set up in advance by Manakov and Strekalov. On December 5 Akiyama’s couch was transferred to Soyuz-TM 10. On December 8 Manakov and Strekalov commenced loading Soyuz-TM 10’s descent module with film and experiment results. TBS broadcast Akiyama’s landing live from Kazakhstan.