From The Archives: Mir Cosmonauts To Return To Earth In Soyuz TM-13 Reentry Spacecraft

In our feature about the Mir cosmonauts' reentry preparations, we learn that Russia plans to complete a crew changeout the week our issue dated Mar. 23, 1992, was published. 

A pair of Russian cosmonauts onboard Mir since before the breakup of USSR (Dec. 25, 1991), were scheduled to return to Earth on Mar. 25. 

Sergi Krikalev and Alexander Volkov were to pilot the Soyuz TM-13 reentry spacecraft to a landing in Kazakhstan  - now an independent country, we reported. 

Krikalev was launched to the Mir in May 1991 and Volkov followed in October 1991. They are the first space travelers to have their country dissolve from beneath them while in space. Both cosmonauts could have returned to Earth at any time. They were not stranded but simply kept aloft throughout the breakup of the USSR as a result of normal Mir crew changeout planning. 

Read more of the feature on page 24. 

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