Soyuz TM-16

Soyuz TM-16
Mission insignia
Mission statistics
Mission name	Soyuz TM-16
Spacecraft mass	7150 kg
Crew size	2 launched / 3 landed
Call sign	Вулка́н (Vulkan - Volcano)
Launch date	January 24, 1993 05:58:05 UTC Gagarin's Start
Landing	July 22, 1993 06:41:50 UTC 140 km S of Dzhezkazgan
Mission duration	179 days 00 hours 43 minutes 45 seconds
Number of orbits	~2,790
Apogee	394 km
Perigee	393 km
Orbital period	92.4 minutes
Orbital inclination	51.6°
Related missions
Previous Subsequent Soyuz TM-15 Soyuz TM-17

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-16 was the sixteenth expedition to the Russian Space Station Mir.

Crew

Position	Launching crew	Landing crew
Commander	Gennadi Manakov Second spaceflight
Flight Engineer	Alexander Poleshchuk First spaceflight
Research Cosmonaut	None	Jean-Pierre Haigneré First spaceflight

Mission highlights

Soyuz TM-16 shown with the APAS-89 docking mechanism

APAS-89

16th expedition to Mir.

First Soyuz without a probe and drogue docking system since 1976. It carried an APAS-89 androgynous docking unit different from the APAS-75 unit used for ASTP in 1975, yet similar in general principles. Soyuz-TM 16 used it to dock with an androgynous docking port on the Kristall module. This was a test of the docking system in preparation for dockings by the Space Shuttles with Mir.