MIR: Expedition 23
(EO-23)

Launch from Baikonur; landing 168 km southeast of Dzheskasgan.

Following a two day solo flight the Soyuz docked with the MIR space station on 12.02.1997. Tsibliyev and Lazutkin became together with Jerry Linenger the 23rd MIR resident crew. The crew performed common scientific experiments together with Ewald during mission EUROMIR 97.

On the 14th day a fire onboard the MIR happened. The cosmonauts were able to quench it. EVA by Tsibliyev and Linenger on 29.04.1997 (4h 48m) to mount and recovery of experiments. Later an oxygen cleaning aparature failed. The crew was visited by STS 84 crew (17 - 22.05.1997).

Collision with a Progress-freighter with a heavy damage of the Spektr module. Spares were brought with the Progress M-35 cargo spacecraft to the space station. Several more failures (energy, oxygen-generators, heart problems of Commander Tsibliyev). The Soyuz landing rockets failed to fire on touchdown, so the crew performed one of the roughest landings in space history.