Mir EO-18

Mir EO-18 was the first long-duration Shuttle-Mir expedition to include a NASA astronaut as a resident crew member. Vladimir Dezhurov, Gennadi Strekalov, and Norman Thagard launched from Baikonur Site 1/5 on Soyuz TM-21 on March 14, 1995, docked with Mir, and worked aboard the Russian station during the early operational phase of the Shuttle-Mir program. The expedition combined station maintenance, medical and life-sciences work, technology demonstrations, Earth-observation tasks, and preparations for the first Shuttle docking with Mir. Dezhurov commanded the crew, Strekalov served as flight engineer, and Thagard served as cosmonaut-researcher, becoming the first American to launch aboard a Soyuz spacecraft. Dezhurov and Strekalov performed multiple EVAs during the stay, while Thagard carried out a long-duration research program that helped prepare NASA for later ISS expedition operations. The crew returned to Earth aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-71, landing at Kennedy Space Center on July 7, 1995.