Mir EO-26

Mir EO-26 was a late long-duration expedition to the Mir space station. Gennady Padalka and Sergei Avdeyev launched on Soyuz TM-28 with research cosmonaut Yuri Baturin on August 13, 1998, docked with Mir two days later, and took over station operations during one of Mir's final sustained crew periods. The crew maintained station systems, supported scientific work, handled Progress cargo traffic, and continued Mir operations through a period of constrained funding and reduced international activity. Padalka returned on Soyuz TM-28 in February 1999, while Avdeyev remained aboard Mir and later returned on Soyuz TM-29 after a record-setting long-duration stay.