Mir facts at a glance

From Correspondent Miles O'Brien

Norm Thagard - March to July 1995
Shannon Lucid - March 1996 to September 1996
John Blaha - September 1996 to January 1997
Jerry Linenger - January to May 1997
Michael Foale - May to October 1997
Dave Wolf - October 1997 to January 1998
Andy Thomas - January 1998 to June 1998

Commander VIKTOR AFANASYEV, 50, of Bryansk, Russia. 189 days in space on this flight (as of 8/27). Afanasyev will have spent 546 days in space in his 3 flights, making him fourth on the all-time list of human space flight endurance behind his crewmate Sergei Avdeyev, Valery Polyakov and Anatoly Solovyev.

Flight Engineer SERGEI AVDEYEV, 43 of Chapaevsk, Russia. Avdeyev will have spent 380 days in space on this mission since his launch on August 13, 1998, 58 days short of the longest single space flight in history (Valery Polyakov of 438 days in 1994-1995).

But Avdeyev now will hold the all-time aggregate total for days in space, 748 days on his three flights, shattering Polyakov's former record of 679 days by 69 days.

French Cosmonaut JEAN-PIERRE HAIGNERE, 51 of Paris, France. Haignere will have spent 210 days in space on his two flights.

1985 - Soviets unveil plans for biggest space station yet. Mir means "peace," "commune" or "village" in Russian.

2/20/86 - First module (the core, or living space) launched on a Proton rocket

3/13/86 - First manned mission to Mir launches. Crew spends 6 weeks on Mir - 51 days on Salyut (vacating Mir) then return to Mir for 3 weeks.

1987 - Kvant module launched. an astrophysics laboratory

4/27/89 - Mir mothballed.

9/8/89 - Re-manned after 134 day hiatus. Mir has been continuously occupied since this date.

11/89 - Kvant 2 module launched. contained a new toilet and shower.

5/90 - Kristall module launched.

December 1991-December 1992 -- Vladimir Titov and Musa Manarov spend exactly one year, 366 days aboard Mir to set what at that time was an all-time endurance record.

2/6/95 - Shuttle Discovery rendezvous with Mir. Comes within 30 feet, but does not dock.

3/95 - Norm Thagard becomes first U.S. astronaut launched on a Soyuz rocket to begin U.S. occupancy of the Mir.

6/29/95 - Atlantis docks with Mir (first shuttle-Mir docking). Thagard and two crewmates come home with shuttle. Two cosmonauts dropped off.

May 1994-February 1995 - Valery Polyakov sets all-time record for single longest space flight: 438 days

1995 - Spektr module launched.

1996 - Priroda module launched.

3/24/96 - Atlantis docks with Mir (2nd docking). Shannon Lucid left behind.

9/19/96 - Atlantis docks with Mir (3rd docking). Lucid comes home after setting all-time endurance record for women in space, 188 days. John Blaha begins his stay.

1/14/97 - Atlantis docks with Mir (4th docking). Blaha comes home. Jerry Linenger begins stay.

2/24/97 - fire aboard Mir.

5/17/97 - Atlantis docks with Mir (5th docking) Linenger comes home. Michael Foale stays behind.

6/25/97 - Unmanned Progress spacecraft collides with Mir while docking, puncturing hole in Spektr module.

9/27/97 - Atlantis docks with Mir (6th docking) Foale comes home. Dave Wolf stays.

1/24/98 - Atlantis docks with Mir (7th docking) Andy Thomas stays. Wolf comes home

6/4/98 - Atlantis Docks with Mir (8th and final). Andy Thomas comes home.

June 1999 - Sergei Avdeyev sets all-time record for most cumulative time in space by a human, exceeding former record held by Valery Polyakov