Soyuz TM-13

Soyuz TM-13

COSPAR ID	1991-069A
SATCAT no.	21735
Mission duration	175 days, 2 hours, 51 minutes, 44 seconds
Orbits completed	~2,730
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Soyuz 7K-STM No. 63
Spacecraft type	Soyuz-TM
Manufacturer	NPO Energia
Launch mass	7,150 kilograms (15,760 lb)
Crew
Crew size	3
Members	Alexander Volkov
Launching	Toktar Aubakirov Franz Viehböck
Landing	Sergei Krikalev Klaus-Dietrich Flade
Callsign	Донба́сс (Donbass)
Start of mission
Launch date	2 October 1991, 05:59:38 (1991-10-02UTC05:59:38Z) UTC
Rocket	Soyuz-U2
Launch site	Baikonur Cosmodrome
End of mission
Landing date	25 March 1992, 08:51:22 (1992-03-25UTC08:51:23Z) UTC
Landing site	near Dzhezkazgan
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee altitude	195 kilometres (121 mi)
Apogee altitude	232 kilometres (144 mi)
Inclination	51.7 degrees
Period	92.4 minutes
Docking with Mir
Docking date	4 October 1991, 07:38:42 UTC
Undocking date	25 March 1992, 05:29:03 UTC
Soyuz programme (Crewed missions) ← Soyuz TM-12 Soyuz TM-14 →

Soyuz TM-13 was the 13th expedition to the Mir space station.^[1] Lasting from October 1991 to March 1992, the mission included cosmonauts from Austria and the soon-to-be independent region of Kazakhstan, as the Soviet Union collapsed in December 1991. The launch ceremony at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakh SSR was attended by the Soviet Premier Ivan Silaev, the President of the Kazakh SSR Nursultan Nazarbayev, and the Chancellor of Austria Franz Vranitzky. Before the launch, for the first time, President Nazarbayev received the launch report from cosmonaut Tokhtar Aubakirov in the Kazakh language.^[2]

Crew

Position	Launching crew	Landing crew
Commander	/ Alexander Volkov Third and last spaceflight
Research Cosmonaut/Flight Engineer	/ Toktar Aubakirov Only spaceflight	/ Sergei Krikalev Second spaceflight
Research Cosmonaut	Franz Viehböck Only spaceflight	Klaus-Dietrich Flade Only spaceflight

Mission highlights

Soyuz-TM 13 carried commander Alexander Volkov along with Austrian cosmonaut-researcher Franz Viehböck and Soviet-Kazakh cosmonaut-researcher Toktar Aubakirov. The flight was unusual for carrying no flight engineer. Veteran Russian cosmonaut Alexandr Volkov commanded. The Austrians paid $7 million to fly Viehböck to Mir, and the Kazakh cosmonaut flew partly in an effort to encourage the then-Kazakh SSR to continue to permit launchings from Baikonur Cosmodrome. The cosmonaut-researchers photographed their respective countries from orbit and conducted the usual range of materials processing and medical experiments. Artsebarsky and Viehböck returned to Earth in Soyuz TM-12, with Volkov remaining on board Mir for an extended mission.

The Soyuz spent a total of 175 days docked to the Mir space station.

The Soyuz returned from Mir with German Klaus-Dietrich Flade and Krikalev and Volkov, dubbed by some as "the last citizens of the USSR" because they had launched from the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic within the USSR, and landed in what had since become the independent Republic of Kazakhstan.

In popular culture

Out of the Present, a 1995 film documentary focused on Soyuz TM-12 cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev's stay on Mir, features the arrival of Soyuz TM-13.

See also

• Timeline of astronauts by nationality
• List of astronauts by name
• Austromir-91 [pt]

Notes and references

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

External links

• Franz Viehböck site
• Project AUSTROMIR 91 site
• Spacefacts biography of Franz Viehböck
• Official agreement on the flight

• v
• t
• e

Soyuz programme

• List of Soyuz missions
• List of Soviet human spaceflight missions
• List of Russian human spaceflight missions

Main topics

• Soyuz (rocket family)
• Soyuz (spacecraft)
• Baikonur Cosmodrome
  • Site 1/5
  • Site 31/6
• Soyuz abort modes
• Cosmonaut ranks and positions

Past missions
(by spacecraft type)

Soyuz 7K-OK (1966–1970)	Kosmos 133† Soyuz 7K-OK No.1† (uncrewed) Kosmos 140 Soyuz 1† Kosmos 186 188 212 213 238 Soyuz 2 (uncrewed) 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Soyuz 7K-L1 (1967–1970) (Zond lunar programme)	Kosmos 146 154† Zond 1967A† 1967B† Zond 4 1968A† 1968B† 5 6 1969A† Zond-M 1† M 2† Zond 7 8 9 10
Soyuz 7K-L1E (1969–1970)	Soyuz 7K-L1E No.1† Kosmos 382
Soyuz 7K-LOK (1971–1972)	Soyuz 7K-LOK No.1† No.2†
Soyuz 7K-OKS (1971)	Soyuz 10† 11†
Soyuz 7K-T (1972–1981)	Kosmos 496 573 Soyuz 12 Kosmos 613 Soyuz 13 Kosmos 656 Soyuz 14 15† 17 18a† 18 20 (uncrewed) 21 23† 24 25† 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 (uncrewed landing) 33† 34 (uncrewed launch) 35 36 37 38 39 40
Soyuz 7K-TM (1974–1976)	Kosmos 638 672 Soyuz 16 19 (Apollo–Soyuz) 22
Soyuz 7K-S (1974–1976)	Kosmos 670 772† 869†
Soyuz-T (1978–1986)	Kosmos 1001† 1074 Soyuz T-1 (uncrewed) T-2 T-3 T-4 T-5 T-6 T-7 T-8† T-9 T-10a† T-10 T-11 T-12 T-13 T-14 T-15
Soyuz-TM (1986–2002)	Soyuz TM-1 (uncrewed) TM-2 TM-3 TM-4 TM-5 TM-6 TM-7 TM-8 TM-9 TM-10 TM-11 TM-12 TM-13 TM-14 TM-15 TM-16 TM-17 TM-18 TM-19 TM-20 TM-21 TM-22 TM-23 TM-24 TM-25 TM-26 TM-27 TM-28 TM-29 TM-30 TM-31 TM-32 TM-33 TM-34
Soyuz-TMA (2002–2012)	Soyuz TMA-1 TMA-2 TMA-3 TMA-4 TMA-5 TMA-6 TMA-7 TMA-8 TMA-9 TMA-10 TMA-11 TMA-12 TMA-13 TMA-14 TMA-15 TMA-16 TMA-17 TMA-18 TMA-19 TMA-20 TMA-21 TMA-22
Soyuz-TMA-M (2010–2016)	Soyuz TMA-01M TMA-02M TMA-03M TMA-04M TMA-05M TMA-06M TMA-07M TMA-08M TMA-09M TMA-10M TMA-11M TMA-12M TMA-13M TMA-14M TMA-15M TMA-16M TMA-17M TMA-18M TMA-19M TMA-20M
Soyuz MS (2016–present)	Soyuz MS-01 MS-02 MS-03 MS-04 MS-05 MS-06 MS-07 MS-08 MS-09 MS-10† MS-11 MS-12 MS-13 MS-14 (uncrewed test flight) MS-15 MS-16 MS-17 MS-18 MS-19 MS-20 MS-21 MS-22 (uncrewed landing) MS-23 (uncrewed launch) MS-24

Current missions

• MS-25

Future missions

• 2024
  • MS-26

Uncrewed missions are designated as Kosmos instead of Soyuz; exceptions are noted "(uncrewed)".
The † sign designates failed missions. Italics designates cancelled missions.