Soyuz TM-3

Soyuz TM-3 was the third crewed spaceflight to visit the Soviet space station Mir, following Soyuz T-15 and Soyuz TM-2. It was launched in July 1987, during the long duration expedition Mir EO-2, and acted as a lifeboat for the second segment of that expedition. There were three people aboard the spacecraft at launch, including the two man crew of the week-long mission Mir EP-1, consisting of Soviet cosmonaut Aleksandr Viktorenko and Syrian Muhammed Faris. Faris was the first Syrian to travel to space, and as of July 2025, the only one. The third cosmonaut launched was Aleksandr Aleksandrov, who would replace one of the long duration crew members Aleksandr Laveykin of Mir EO-2. Laveykin had been diagnosed by ground-based doctors to have minor heart problems, so he returned to Earth with the EP-1 crew in Soyuz TM-2.^[3]

Soyuz TM-3

1987 USSR stamp commemorating Soviet-Syrian collaboration in the TM-3 mission.
COSPAR ID	1987-063A
SATCAT no.	18222
Mission duration	160 days, 7 hours, 25 minutes, 56 seconds
Orbits completed	~2,580
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Soyuz 7K-STM No. 53
Spacecraft type	Soyuz-TM
Manufacturer	NPO Energia
Launch mass	7,100 kilograms (15,700 lb)
Crew
Crew size	3
Members	Aleksandr Pavlovich Aleksandrov
Launching	Aleksandr Viktorenko Muhammed Faris
Landing	Yuri Romanenko Anatoli Levchenko
Callsign	Vityaz (Knight)
Start of mission
Launch date	22 July 1987, 01:59:17 (1987-07-22UTC01:59:17Z) UTC[1]
Rocket	Soyuz-U2
Launch site	Baikonur 1/5
End of mission
Landing date	29 December 1987, 09:16:15 (1987-12-29UTC09:16:16Z) UTC
Landing site	140 kilometres (87 mi) NE of Arkalyk
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee altitude	297 kilometres (185 mi)
Apogee altitude	353 kilometres (219 mi)
Inclination	51.6 degrees
Period	91.0 minutes
Docking with Mir[2]
Docking date	24 July 1987, 03:31:23 UTC
Undocking date	29 December 1987, 05:58:00 UTC
Soyuz programme (Crewed missions) ← Soyuz TM-2 Soyuz TM-4 →

Soyuz TM-3 landed near the end of December 1987, landing both members of the EO-2 crew, as well as potential Buran pilot Anatoli Levchenko, who had been launched to Mir a week earlier aboard Soyuz TM-4.

Crew

Position	Launching crew	Landing crew
Commander	Aleksandr Viktorenko Mir EP-1 First spaceflight	Yuri Romanenko Mir EO-2 Third and last spaceflight
Flight Engineer	Aleksandr Pavlovich Aleksandrov Mir EO-2 Second and last spaceflight
Research Cosmonaut	Muhammed Faris Mir EP-1 Only spaceflight	Anatoli Levchenko Mir LII-1 Only spaceflight

Mission parameters

• Mass: 7100 kg
• Perigee: 297 km
• Apogee: 353 km
• Inclination: 51.6°
• Period: 91.0 minutes