MIR SPACE STATION
Soyuz T-15 was the first expedition to MIR station and the last to Salyut-7, closing Salyut era. Leonid Kizim and Vladimir Solovyev took around 100 various covers and postmarked them with both stations pentagon postmarks in blue and black inks. The covers were signed mostly back on Earth and some received additional inscriptions. These covers are quite common in the “space mail” inventory and there is an opinion that many of them were postmarked after the landing, thus making it impossible to distinguish between the really flown and not.
Soyuz TM-2 – the story of the first official space souvenir cover.
American stamp dealer Kurt Weishaupt agreed with USSR Space agency – GLAVKOSMOS, to produce souvenir covers and postmark them in space. 1038 covers were prepared, postmarked in Moscow and delivered on Progress-33 cargo ship to MIR station along with new MIR souvenir octagon shaped stamp (that became the philately logo of MIR). All the covers were stamped by blue-ink octagon, signed by the crew and returned to Earth on Soyuz TM-3. There the covers were postmarked in Araklyk, numbered and signed by Dunaev – head of GLAVKOSMOS. 1000 of the covers were sold by Mezhkniga to Kurt Weishaupt, who in his turn distributed them between well-known dealers. The covers were sold for quite high price (and still available for $500-$700 on ebay.com). Interestingly, the original batch of covers was to mention Laveykin as MIR crew member, but before they were dispatched to Baikonur, Laveykin was grounded due to health issues and replaced by Aleksandrov to return to Earth. Almost all printed covers were destroyed and the new ones, with Aleksandrov in place were delivered.
from Russian Astrophilately forum
MIR EO-1 Leonid Kizim Vladimir Solovyov
MIR EO-2 Yuri Romanenko Alexandr Laveykin
GLAVKOSMOS certificate
On February 1, 1990 Alexander Serebrov performed experimental testing of the Cosmonaut Transportation Device (rus – SPK) and reached the distance of 33 meters from the MIR station. The SPK was designed by Guy Severin’s Zvezda together with NPO Energia inspired by successful testing and application of NASA MMU in 1984. SPK was planned to be used supporting Buran program to transport cargos and assist in free maneuvering up to 100 meters distance from the spaceship.
During the first test Serebrov encountered several issues and generally was not able to fully estimate the capabilities of the device. Additional unplanned 5th EVA was granted to the cosmonauts on Feb 5 when Alexander Viktorenko used SPK to reach 45 meters distance from MIR and run a full circle around the station. SPK performance was proved to be unsatisfactory as it was cumbersome to operate and very hard to make any kind of movements while tightly buckled inside.
With the closure of Buran program all the SPK activities have been ceased. Having performed only two test runs and lacking a traditional for soviet space program nickname, SPK found its place in astrophilately like on this 1990 Cosmonautics day issue.
Note - Interesting issue with the Soyuz TM-14 Russia-Germany space flight covers. Several such serviced FDCs of the USSR-Austria joint space flight were provided to the Soyuz TM-14 crew. They were cancelled in Baikonur, along with other around 300 mail items, using postmark with the wrong date – 17.03.91 instead of 17.03.92. This was done in purpose to avoid fakes and forgeries. On the reverse of the presented cover there is a perfect stamp of the mission emblem. The signees on the cover are Viktorenko, Kaleri, Krikalev (Soyuz TM-12), Volkov (Soyuz TM-13) and Flade, note his full name signature. Flade landed on Soyuz TM-13 together with Volkov and Krikalev.
Here is a couple of interesting points regarding Soyuz TM-16 flight:
It was the first and only Soyuz equipped with APAS-89 docking system, improved analog of APAS-75 used during Apollo-Soyuz flight. The docking was performed to Kristall module instead of Kvant module. APAS-89 was developed in 1989 for Buran spaceship, but later used for Space Shuttle docking to MIR.
According to my observations, this was the first time (or one of the first) that cosmonauts used personal stamps on the flown covers. Two stamps are present – Soyuz TM-16 emblem and Manakov personal stamp with VULCAN call sign.
Znamya experiment souvenir card devoted to the 500th anniversary of Columbus discovery of America. The batch of 200 cards was delivered to MIR in Oct 29, 1992 on Progress M-15 cargo ship that served as experiment platform. It was accepted by Solovyev and Avdeyed who were EO-12 and also put their signatures. The experiment was conducted on Feb 4, 1993 by Manakov and Poleshchuk as EO-13, who put MIR postmark and their signatures as well.
MIR EP-1
MIR EP-1 + EO-2
Baikonur Kniga postmark
Syrian cover
MIR EP-2 Anatoly Solovyev Viktor Savinykh Aleksandr Aleksandrov (Bulgaria)
Baikonur
MIR EP-1
Bulgarian cover
MIR EP-3 Valeri Polyakov Vladimir Lyakhov Abdul Ahad Mohmand (Afghanistan)
Moscow FDC
Star City
Baikonur
MIR EO-4 Aleksandr Volkov Sergei Krikalev Jean-Loup Chrétien (France)
MIR EO-4
SPK test by A. Serebrov
EO-6 Anatoly Solovyev Aleksandr Balandin
EO-6 + EO-7
MIR EO-8 Viktor Afanasyev Musa Manarov Toyohiro Akiyama (Japan)
Moscow FDOI
Star City Anatoly Artsebarsky Sergei Krikalev Helen Sharman (United Kingdom)
Baikonur
landing crew This cover is quite symbolic - pure USSR 1982 FDC postmarked on MIR in 1991 just before the dismissal of the Soviet Union in Dec 91.
MIR EO-10 Aleksandr Volkov Toktar Aubakirov Franz Viehböck (Austria)
Baikonur
Moscow
MIR EO-10
MIR EO-10
1994
1994
5th anniversary of flight
10th anniversary
10th anniversary
10th anniversary of flight
15th anniversary of flight Gorlovka city - Alexander Volkov hometown
Star City
15th anniversary
Moscow FDC
flown cover
flight emblem cancellation
Russia-German philex
Munich pictorial postmark
MIR-92 Bonn postmark
Stuttgart postmark
Energia flown souvenir cover
Kazakhstan surcharge stamps
Novoskibirsk club cover
MIR EO-13 Gennadi Manakov Aleksandr Poleshchuk
MIR EO-12 / 13 signed by Solovyev, Avdeyev, Manakov and Poleshchuk
Progress M-15
Kazakhstan postmark with error "Ранция" instead of "Франция" all the covers were cancelled in Alma-Ata and received Baikonur calendar postmark later
MIR EO-13 / 14 /15
Serebrov record - 10th EVA
MIR EO-14 Vasili Tsibliyev Aleksandr Serebrov Jean-Pierre Haigneré (France)
Kazakhstan special postmark
overprinted stamp
MIR EO-15 Viktor Afanasiyev Yuri Usachyov Valeri Polyakov
MIR EO-16 Yuri Malenchenko Talgat Musabayev
Kazakhstan
T. Musabaev EVA Kazakhstan special postmark
MIR EO-17 Aleksandr Viktorenko Yelena Kondakova Ulf Merbold (Germany)
Star City anniversary FDC Viktorenko and Merbold signatures
Soyuz TM-19 landing Kazakhstan special postmark
Soyuz TM-19 landing Kazakhstan special postmark
Soyuz TM-19 landing Kazakhstan special postmark
Soyuz TM-19 landing Kazakhstan special postmark
STS-60 was the first operational mission of Shuttle-MIR program that included a cosmonaut in the Space Shuttle crew and live communications with MIR space station. Sergei Krikalev became the first Russian cosmonaut to fly on the U.S. Space Shuttle when he launched with his five NASA crewmates onboard Discovery. Krikalev and his backup, Vladimir Titov, joined the STS-60 mission after the U.S. crew had already been assigned; however, Krikalev was able to take full part in the mission. His roles included manipulating the Shuttle’s payload bay "arm" and operating the Space Acceleration Measurement System experiment, as well as participating in the joint science experiments. Krikalev’s backup Titov would go on to fly on the STS-63 "near Mir" mission. Besides gaining practical experience on an American Space Shuttle, Krikalev helped further diplomatic and public relations in ways that hearkened back to the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project of 1975 and pointed forward to the Shuttle-Mir flights.
The presented Apollo-11 25th anniversary cover issued in the same 1994 is quite interesting giving the direction of the “Next Step” towards the space station. Though not directly connected to the Shuttle-MIR program.
Quite unusual Houston STS-60 special postmark can be found on the dedicated wide format covers. It looks like a "fantasy" of one of the German dealers. Note missing word STATION. It is not listed in 1994 Postal Bulletins
cosmonauts training
rollover
rollout
1st Shuttle-MIR mission
SRB recovery
launch
Sergey Krikalev
mission summary cove
GSFC tracking
Pasadena
WSMR tracking
special Houston postmark
communications with MIR
Wake Shield Facility -1
landing
mission summary cover
launch - KSC
launch - KSC
launch - KSC
launch - tracking GSFC
Naval Space Command
WSMR tracking
Downey CA
NASA - JPL
Soyuz TM-21 flight was “the first” in several aspects. It was the first space flight upon Shuttle-MIR program that delivered EO-18. It was the first to have an American astronaut abroad for the longest up to date US space flight (115 days). During EO-18 there was a first ever Shuttle docking to MIR space station. The whole crew returned to Earth aboard STS-71 Atlantis.
Besides the achievements this flight was amid philatelic scandal that involved the German dealers and Russian collectors. Awaiting such significant event as US astronaut aboard Soyuz-MIR and first Shuttle docking, German dealers prepared to deliver “space mail” souvenirs to the market, hoping for a good value. In a couple of weeks after the launch such covers start to appear with six spacemen signatures. Those covers were checked by Russian philatelists along with western experts and proved to be forged. In a couple of months appeared another batch of “flown” covers from Soyuz TM-20/21 that was once again proven to be forged. Then came the covers from the STS-71 landing with Soyuz crew signatures and finally Soyuz TM-22 covers with original signatures but faked Baikonur postmarks. Following the allegations from Russian collectors, German dealers consolidated the position and blamed Russians on the deliberate sabotage and distrust….
The story was taken from Sergey Chizhov open letter to Cosmonautics News magazine in Feb, 1997
Kaliningrad
German Komlev cachet
Sergey Chizhov cachet
Ty-154 MLK training
launch
special flight Star City - Baikonur
MIR EO-18
Kaliningrad mission control center
MIR EO-18
MIR EO-18
Sergey Chizhov cachet reverse inspired by Shuttle-MIR
KSC serviced cover
MIR EO-19 / Atlantis Anatoly Solovyev and Nikolai Budarin were delivered to MIR on Atlantis Space Shuttle
1st Shuttle-MIR docking FDC
serviced FDC
tracking - launch
KSC - Baikonur dual cancellation
tracking - docking
Kazakhstan club cover
Kazakhstan club cover
Korolev - undocking
GSFC tracking - undocking
tracking - landing
WSMR tracking
Guam tracking
Naval Space Command
Sergey Chizhov cachet
MIR EO-19 Solovyev and Budarin landed on Soyuz TM-21
Star City training
MIR EO-20 Yuri Gidzenko Sergei Avdeyev Thomas Reiter (Germany)
MIR EO-20
Baikonur - Wessling
MIR EO-20
MIR EO-20 signed by Soyuz TM-22 crew and EO-19 members - Solovyev and Budarin
MIR EO-20 Yuri Gidzenko Sergei Avdeyev Thomas Reiter (Germany)
EUROMIR-95
training in Star City
KSC - launch
GSFC tracking - launch
KSC special postmark
GSFC tracking - docking
Alex Gorshkov cachet
Alex Gorshkov cachet
Baikonur - docking
GSFC tracking - undocking
KSC landing
GSFC tracking - landing
NASA - JPL
Downey, CA
A couple of interesting moments re STS-76 mission:
Michael Clifford participated in this mission a year after he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. During the flight, he worked for 6 hours in the open space. Everything went well, but he told that it was not given to him so easy.
Another notable achievement was made by Atlantis crew member Shannon Lucid who joined EO-21 and EO-22 and stayed abroad MIR for 179 days, returning home abroad STS-79. She spent a total of 188 days in space that was an absolute record for the woman and non-Russian spaceman in general. The woman-space-stay record was beaten 11 years later by ISS crew member.
The main controversy of Soyuz TM-24 flight was the “last minute” change of the Russian part of the crew, that occurred only one week before the launch. Gennady Manakov suffered from heart problems and the medical decision was to replace him and Pavel Vinogradov with the back-up crew members – Valery Korzun and Alexandr Kaleri. This switch caused a mess in space collector society and astrophilately in particular as many items bearing the original crew names (like covers and patches) were already prepared and dispatched for the launch. This also caused some increase in prices, as the developed story underlined the rarity of the event.
MIR EO-21 Yuri Onufrienko Yury Usachev
launch - KSC
launch - official cover
KSC special postmark
launch - GSFC tracking
docking - Korolev tracking
docking - GSFC tracking
GSFC
KSC special postmark
MIR EO-21 signed by the both crews
Korolev tracking
undocking - GSFC tracking
landing - GSFC tracking
landing site - Edwards AFB
nice mission summary cover
launched Apr 23, 1996 primary purpose was to conduct Earth resource experiments through remote sensing
MIR EO-22 Valery Korzun Aleksandr Kaleri Claudie Haigneré (France)
serviced to Paris
MIR EO-22 Valery Korzun Aleksandr Kaleri Claudie Haigneré (France)
Korolev - docking
RKK Energia flown cover signed by Soyuz and EO-21 crews
unusual flown cover It bears the names of the original crew on the emblem - Manakov, Vinogradov and Haigneré. Signed by Soyuz and EO-21 crews, missing Shannon Lucid signature
Pseudo NASA VIP cards.
NASA VIP cards were the series of postcards designed and printed by NASA to be given to the guests invited to attend Apollo mission launches. The last VIP card was actually for SL-2 the first manned Skylab flight. There was a special VIP card for STS-95 the return to orbit of John Glenn. Just about all so-called VIP cards produced after NASA's last VIP card issue for SL-2 in May 1973 were privately printed by space cover dealer Carsten Fuchs of Germany. His cards, which include all Shuttle flights from STS-1, are in no way of any "official" status and can be identified by light-blue ink markings and usually on a heavier-card stock. I have a couple of such “pseudo” NASA VIP cards for STS-79 and STS-86 bearing special Shuttle-MIR docking pictorial postmarks.
more on NASA VIP cards here
Sergey Chizhov cachet
"pseudo" NASA VIP card
Sep 18, 1996
Downey, CA station
Colorano Silk cachet
Colorano Silk cachet
Colorano Silk cachet
Colorano Silk cachet
Colorano Silk cachet
Colorano Silk cachet
Colorano Silk cachet
Colorano Silk cachet
Colorano Silk cachet
Colorano Silk cachet
WSMR
KSC - Merritt Island
A very interesting cover signed by 5! MIR visiting crews with relevant postmarks from MIR "post office":
19.08.96 - Soyuz TM-24 docking to MIR
19.09.96 - STS-79 docking to MIR
15.01.97 - STS-81 docking to MIR
12.02.97 - Soyuz TM-25 docking to MIR
02.03.97 - Soyuz TM-24 undocking from MIR
Note, this cover lists the original crew of Soyuz TM-24 (EO-22) that was replaced, but the signatures are of the flown spacemen aboard MIR
roll-out Dec 11, 1996
KSC postmark - Jan 12, 1997
launch - Downey, CA
tracking - launch
launch - Houston, TX
launch - Satellite Beach, FL
Vandenberg AFB
launch - KSC
docking
KSC postmark - Jan 14, 1997
NASA - Roskosmos cover
tracking - docking
Colorano Silk cachet
Colorano Silk cachet
Colorano Silk cachet
Colorano Silk cachet
Colorano Silk cachet
Colorano Silk cachet
Colorano Silk cachet
Colorano Silk cachet
tracking - undocking
tracking - landing
landing site - KSC
Vandenberg AFB
Patrick AFB
Canberra, Australia
MIR EO-23 Vasili Tsibliyev Aleksandr Lazutkin Reinhold Ewald (Germany)
MIR EO-23 Vasili Tsibliyev Aleksandr Lazutkin Reinhold Ewald (Germany)
G&G cachet
Kazakhstan club cover
Baikonur Field Post 08814
DARA cover
Wessling - Korolev
German Space Operations
German Space Agency
Munich pictorial postmark
Wessling pictorial postmark
Wessling pictorial postmark
MIR EO-23 Vasili Tsibliyev Aleksandr Lazutkin Reinhold Ewald (Germany)
Baikonur Field Post 08814
Chizhov cachet color reverse
Sergey Chizhov cachet
Energia flown cover
MIR EO-23 Vasili Tsibliyev Aleksandr Lazutkin Reinhold Ewald (Germany)
landing crew - Korzun, Kaleri and Ewald
20th anniversary - Star City
20th anniversary - Star City
Baikonur Field Post 08814
Sergey Chizhov cachet
Apr 8, 1997 - docking
Kazakhstan club cover
Cosmonautics Day issue
Jul 5, 1997
On June 25, 1997, the Russian crew including Vasiliy Tsibliev and Alexander Lazutkin, which just several months ago was battling flames on Mir, plus NASA astronaut Michael Foale, found themselves in the middle of the worst collision in space history. During a docking test with the use of remote control onboard the station, Tsibliev lost control of a tumbling cargo ship Progress M-34. The vehicle collides with the station’s Spektr module and seconds later, the crew onboard Mir hears a hissing sound of air escaping their vessel. Miraculously, almost instantly, the crewmembers were able to locate the air leak to Spektr module. After short struggle to find cutting tools, they severed the cables leading into the Spektr and safely sealed the hatches. The collision damaged one of Spektr’s solar arrays, caused a fracture that depressurized the module. Power restoration required two internal spacewalk in August and October 1997, which restored about 70% of the power capability previously available. The module was left isolated from the Mir complex until the end of the space station’s life.
landing
roll-out Apr 24, 1997
KSC postmark - May 16, 1997
crew training Anatoly Solovyev Pavel Vinogradov
MIR EO-24 Anatoly Solovyev Pavel Vinogradov
launch
docking
EVA
reverse cover cachet Kaliningrad postmark on the collision date - Jun 25, 1997
"pseudo" NASA VIP card
KSC serviced cover
launch - KSC and CNES
launch - GSFC tracking
launch - Cape Canaveral
approach to MIR
docking - GSFC tracking
KSC postmark - Sep 27, 1997
docking - Korolev
undocking - GSFC tracking
landing - Cape Canaveral
landing - KSC and CNES
landing - GSFC tracking
landing - official cover
landing - Cape Canaveral
landing - Houston, TX
KSC - landing site
Oct 5, 1997
Oleg Urusov cachet
Baikonur Field Post 08814
roll-out Dec 22,1997
launch - KSC
launch - GSFC tracking
8th MIR docking postmark
JSC club cover
docking - GSFC tracking
docking - Korolev this cover was designed for onboard cancellations, but received only Korolev postmarks
undocking - GSFC tracking
landing - KSC
landing - GSFC tracking
Kazakhstan club cover
Kazakhstan special postmark
MIR EO-25 Talgat Musabayev Nikolai Budarin Léopold Eyharts
MIR EO-25 Talgat Musabayev Nikolai Budarin Léopold Eyharts
launch KSC hand cancellation Titusville club cachet
launch Kennedy Space Center USPS cancellation
launch Kennedy Space Center machine cancellation
launch Johnson Space Center club cachet green Shuttle-Mir Houston postmark
GSFC tracking
docking blue Shuttle-MIR Houston postmark
docking - Downey, CA Shuttle-MIR Downey, CA postmark
9th MIR docking postmark 9th Shuttle-MIR docking KSC special postmark
serviced cover
docking black Shuttle-MIR Houston postmark - note the different date format KSC special postmark is used as a cachet - no date
experiments SPACEHUB module cachet Nassau Bay special postmark
landing Johnson Space Center club cachet red Shuttle-Mir Houston postmark
landing KSC hand cancellation Titusville club cachet
mission summary cover launch and landing KSC hand cancellations
MIR reentry occurred Mar 23, 2001 over Fiji as a spectacular firework-like scene watched by hundreds of tourists from all over the world gathering in Suva (Fiji capital). Although the station has met its end in unpopulated Pacific area some fragments were found on Fiji islands and then appeared on ebay.com.
MIR EO-26
Korolev tracking
Baikonur - launch
MIR EO-27 Viktor Afanasyev Jean-Pierre Haigneré Ivan Bella
MIR EO-27 Viktor Afanasyev Jean-Pierre Haigneré Ivan Bella
MIR EO-28 Sergei Zalyotin Aleksandr Kaleri
MIR EO-28 Sergei Zalyotin Aleksandr Kaleri
Mir deorbiting
Korolev
Goddard Space Flight Center
Fiji
Kaluga
Houston
nice computer designed cachet