View source for Soyuz TM-30

{{Short description|Final crewed spaceflight to Mir}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name                  = Soyuz TM-30
| image                 = 
| image_caption         = 
| insignia              = Soyuz-tm-30-patch.svg

| mission_type          = [[Mir]] crew transport
| operator              = [[Rosaviakosmos]]<br/>[[MirCorp]]
| COSPAR_ID             = 2000-018A
| SATCAT                = 26116
| mission_duration      = 72&nbsp;days, 19&nbsp;hours, 42&nbsp;minutes
| distance_travelled    = 
| orbits_completed      = 1,145

| spacecraft            = Soyuz 7K-STM No.204<ref name="satcat">{{cite web|url=https://planet4589.org/space/log/satcat.txt|title=Satellite Catalog|first=Jonathan|last=McDowell|work=Jonathan's Space Page|access-date=21 November 2013}}</ref>
| spacecraft_type       = [[Soyuz-TM]]
| manufacturer          = [[RKK Energia]]
| launch_mass           = 
| landing_mass          =

| launch_date           = {{Start date text|April 4, 2000, 05:01:29|timezone=yes}}&nbsp;UTC <ref name="launchlog">{{cite web|url=https://planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt|title=Launch Log|first=Jonathan|last=McDowell|work=Jonathan's Space Page|access-date=21 November 2013}}</ref>
| launch_rocket         = [[Soyuz-U]]
| launch_site           = [[Baikonur Cosmodrome|Baikonur]] [[Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 1|1/5]]

| landing_date          = {{End date text|June 16, 2000, 00:44|timezone=yes}}&nbsp;UTC
| landing_site          = {{coord|49|54|N|67|12|E}}

| crew_size             = 2
| crew_members          = [[Sergei Zalyotin]]<br/>[[Aleksandr Kaleri]]
| crew_callsign         = Енисе́й ([[Yenisei River|Yenisei]]) 
| crew_photo            = 
| crew_photo_caption    =

| orbit_epoch           = May 5, 2000<ref name="satcat"/>
| orbit_reference       = [[Geocentric orbit|Geocentric]]
| orbit_regime          = [[Low Earth orbit|Low Earth]]
| orbit_periapsis       = {{convert|358|km|mi}} 
| orbit_apoapsis        = {{convert|384|km|mi}} 
| orbit_inclination     = 51.6&nbsp;degrees
| orbit_period          = 91.96&nbsp;minutes
| apsis                 = gee

| docking               = 
 {{Infobox spaceflight/Dock
   | docking_target     = [[Mir]]
   | docking_type       = dock
   | docking_port       = [[Mir Core Module|Core]] forward
   | docking_date       = April 6, 2000, 06:31:24&nbsp;UTC
   | undocking_date     = June 15, 2000, 21:24&nbsp;UTC
   | time_docked        = 70&nbsp;days, 15&nbsp;hours
 }}

| previous_mission      = [[Soyuz TM-29]]
| next_mission          = [[Soyuz TM-31]]
| programme             = [[Soyuz programme]]<br/><small>(Crewed missions)</small>
}}

'''Soyuz TM-30''' ({{langx|ru|Союз ТМ-30}}, ''Union TM-30''), also known as '''Mir [[List of Mir Expeditions|EO]]-28''', was a [[Soyuz programme|Soyuz]] mission, the 39th and final [[human spaceflight]] to the [[Mir]] [[space station]]. The crew of the mission was sent by [[MirCorp]], a privately funded company, to reactivate and repair the station. The crew also resupplied the station and boosted the station to an orbit with a low point ([[perigee]]) of 360 and a high point ([[apogee]]) of 378 kilometers (223 and 235 miles, respectively); the boost in the station's orbit was done by utilizing the engines of the [[Progress M1-1]] and [[Progress M1-2|M1-2]] spacecraft. At that time a transit between Mir and the [[International Space Station]] was already impossible - such a transfer was deemed undesired by [[NASA]] - and the orbital plane of ISS had been chosen some time before to be around 120 degrees away from that of Mir. The mission was the first privately funded mission to a space station.<ref name="astronautix">{{cite web|title=Mir EO-28|url=http://www.astronautix.com/flights/mireo28.htm|publisher=Astronautix|access-date=25 October 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724062945/http://www.astronautix.com/flights/mireo28.htm|archive-date=24 July 2008}}</ref><ref name="mc">{{cite web|title=MirCorp Mission|url=http://www.mircorp.org/mission.html|publisher=MirCorp|access-date=25 October 2010}}</ref>

The mission was part of an effort by MirCorp to refurbish and privatize the aging Mir space station, which was nearing the end of its operational life. Further commercially funded missions beyond Soyuz TM-30 were originally planned to continue the restoration efforts of the then 14-year-old space station, but insufficient funding and investment ultimately led to the de-orbit of the station in early 2001.<ref name="mc"/><ref name=cnn2>{{cite news|title=New mission planned for Mir as current one wraps up|url=http://articles.cnn.com/2000-06-12/tech/mir.mission_1_mir-space-station-mircorp-mir-program?_s=PM:TECH|access-date=30 April 2011|newspaper=CNN|date=12 June 2000|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007163854/http://articles.cnn.com/2000-06-12/tech/mir.mission_1_mir-space-station-mircorp-mir-program?_s=PM:TECH|archive-date=7 October 2012}}</ref>

==Crew==
{{Spaceflight crew
|references      = <ref name="mc"/><ref name="rsw">{{cite web|title=Missions to Mir in 2000|url=https://www.russianspaceweb.com/mir_2000.html|publisher=Russianspaceweb|access-date=25 October 2010}}</ref>
|position1       = Commander
|crew1_up        = {{flagicon|RUS}}&nbsp;[[Sergei Zalyotin]]
|flights1_up     = First
|position2       = Flight Engineer
|crew2_up        = {{flagicon|RUS}}&nbsp;[[Aleksandr Kaleri]]
|flights2_up     = Third
}}

Soyuz TM-30 was the first spaceflight for flight commander Zalyotin, who became a cosmonaut in 1990 and completed his general training two years later in 1992.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cosmonaut Bio: Sergei Zalyotin|url=http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/zaletin.html|publisher=NASA|access-date=24 July 2011}}</ref> TM-30 was the third visit to space made by flight engineer Kaleri, who became a cosmonaut in 1984 and completed general training in 1986. He served as flight engineer aboard the [[Soyuz TM-14]] and [[Soyuz TM-24|TM-24]] missions to Mir in 1992 and 1996–7, respectively.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cosmonaut Bio: Alexander Kaleri|url=http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/kaleri-ay.html|publisher=NASA|access-date=24 July 2011}}</ref>

===Backup crew===

{{Spaceflight crew
|references      = <ref name=cnn2/><ref name=spacefacts>{{cite web|title=Soyuz TM-30|url=http://www.spacefacts.de/mission/english/soyuz-tm30.htm|work=Human Spaceflights|publisher=Spacefacts|access-date=30 April 2011}}</ref> 
|position1       = Commander
|crew1_up        = {{flagicon|RUS}}&nbsp;[[Salizhan Sharipov]]
|position2       = Flight Engineer
|crew2_up        = {{flagicon|RUS}}&nbsp;[[Pavel Vinogradov]]
}}

While Soyuz TM-30 was in orbit, a second privately funded mission was being planned to continue the restoration efforts aboard Mir. The crew assigned to this mission, although never flown, was reported to have been the backup crew for TM-30, cosmonauts Salizhan Sharipov and Pavel Vinogradov.<ref name=cnn2/>

==Background==

Soyuz TM-30 was intended by [[MirCorp]] to be the first in a series of missions to refurbish the 14-year-old Mir space station for commercial use. Although the mission was scheduled to last approximately two months, commander Sergei Zalyotin said before the flight that if additional funds became available the mission could be extended until August, when another crew would replace them. The other possible scenario, which occurred in reality, was again to leave the station uninhabited, as had been done several months before the mission.<ref name=cnn1>{{cite news|title=Space Crew poised for return to Mir on Tuesday|url=http://articles.cnn.com/2000-04-03/tech/russia.mir.01_1_alexander-kaleri-mircorp-baikonur-cosmodrome?_s=PM:TECH|access-date=30 April 2011|newspaper=CNN|date=3 April 2000|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007163849/http://articles.cnn.com/2000-04-03/tech/russia.mir.01_1_alexander-kaleri-mircorp-baikonur-cosmodrome?_s=PM:TECH|archive-date=7 October 2012}}</ref> Towards the end of Soyuz TM-30 plans were formed to send another privately funded mission to continue with MirCorp's maintenance efforts; cosmonauts Salizhan Sharipov and Pavel Vinogradov were tentatively assigned as the crew.<ref name=cnn2/>

Actor [[Vladimir Steklov (actor)|Vladimir Steklov]] trained and was initially assigned for a 2000 flight on Soyuz TM-30 to film scenes for the movie ''[[:ru:Воры и проститутки. Приз — полёт в космос|Thieves and Prostitutes. Spaceflight is the Prize]]'' on ''[[Mir]]''.<ref>[https://www.iol.co.za/news/world/russian-star-set-to-shoot-into-space-29674 Russian star set to shoot into space]</ref> The plans were scrapped weeks before launch due to lack of funding,<ref>[https://www.upi.com/Archives/2000/04/04/Cosmonauts-to-reopen-and-repair-Mir-for-future-use/9669954820800/ Cosmonauts to reopen and repair Mir for future use] - UPI Archives</ref> and space scenes were filmed in studio instead.

==Mission highlights==
[[File:Soyuz TM-30 launch.jpg|130px|left|thumb|The launch of Soyuz TM-30 on April 4, 2000]]
Soyuz TM-30 launched at 05:01:29 UT on April 4, 2000. Docking occurred on April 6 at 06:31:24 UT. Although the Soyuz docking system is automated under normal conditions, the final few meters of the approach to the station were executed in manual mode. The decision to switch to manual mode came after the cosmonauts noticed a small deviation in the spacecraft's approach to the targeted docking port. At about 09:32 UT on the day of docking, the crew prepared to open the hatches between the Soyuz spacecraft and the station. After entering the station the crew stabilized the atmosphere inside Mir and undertook routine maintenance work.<ref name="astronautix"/>

On April 25, an uncrewed [[Progress-M1|Progress]] resupply mission, [[Progress M1-2]], launched from the [[Baikonur Cosmodrome]] to the station to deliver supplies to the crew. Progress M1-2 docked with Mir on April 27. On April 26, the [[Progress M1-1]] spacecraft, which had been docked since February and was used by the [[Russian Federal Space Agency]] to boost the station to a higher orbit, undocked and de-orbited over the Pacific Ocean east of New Zealand.<ref name="astronautix"/>

The mission's only [[Extra-Vehicular Activity]], or spacewalk, took place on May 12, between 10:44 and 15:36 UTC. The primary objectives of the spacewalk were to repair damage to Mir's exterior components and record [[panorama]]s of the station's hull in order for experts on Earth to analyze the effects of space on the station itself. The cosmonauts inspected a malfunctioning [[solar array]] on the [[Kvant-1]] module of the station. They discovered that a burnt-through wire connecting the array with its steering system was preventing its proper rotation. The array was subsequently deemed a loss.<ref name="astronautix"/><ref name="rsw"/>

On June 15, 2000, the TM-30 spacecraft undocked from the station at about 21:24&nbsp;UT. The de-orbit burn occurred at about 23:52&nbsp;UT and landing followed at about 00:44 UT on June 16, about {{convert|45|km|mi|sp=us}} southeast of [[Arkalyk, Kazakhstan|Arkalyk]] in [[Kazakhstan]].<ref name="astronautix"/><ref name=spacefacts2>{{cite web|title=MIR: Expedition 28 (EO-28)|url=http://www.spacefacts.de/mir/english/mir-28.htm|work=Resident Crews of the MIR|publisher=Spacefacts|access-date=1 May 2011}}</ref>{{-}}

==Milestones==

Soyuz TM-30 was the first privately funded crewed space expedition but several other firsts were also achieved, including the first privately funded [[extra-vehicular activity]], and the first privately funded uncrewed resupply mission to a space station, utilizing the [[Progress-M1]] spacecraft.<ref name="mc"/> Soyuz TM-30 also managed to delay the de-orbit of Mir, which was originally scheduled to occur some time in 2000, but ultimately occurred in March 2001.<ref name=cnn3>{{cite news|title=Future of Mir in doubt after cosmonauts return home|url=http://articles.cnn.com/2000-06-16/tech/mir.folo_1_mir-space-station-alexander-kaleri-mircorp?_s=PM:TECH|access-date=30 April 2011|newspaper=CNN|date=16 June 2000|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007163916/http://articles.cnn.com/2000-06-16/tech/mir.folo_1_mir-space-station-alexander-kaleri-mircorp?_s=PM:TECH|archive-date=7 October 2012}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Spaceflight}}
*[[List of Mir Expeditions]]
*[[MirCorp]]

==References==

{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.sellingpeace.com/ The MirCorp mission at SellingPeace.com by Jeffrey Manber]

{{coord|49|54|N|67|12|E|display=title}}
{{Soyuz}}
{{Crewed Mir flights}}
{{Orbital launches in 2000}}
{{Good article}}

[[Category:Crewed Soyuz missions]]
[[Category:Spacecraft launched in 2000]]
[[Category:Commercial spaceflight]]