Euromir was an international space programme in the 1990s. Between the

Russian Federal Space Agency The State Space Corporation "Roscosmos" (russian: Государственная корпорация по космической деятельности «Роскосмос»), commonly known simply as Roscosmos (russian: Роскосмос) ...

and the

European Space Agency , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...

(ESA), it would bring

European astronauts European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe a ...

to the

Mir ''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...

space station. Euromir was part of a drive in the early 1990s to recruit and train European astronauts for the then-planned

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...

(ISS). Trips on the US

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...

and the Russia Mir space station would give ESA astronauts experience in space (ESA's

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

Precursor Flights programme) and help all parties learn to have experience in international cooperation. ESA's 1992 intake of astronauts were trained up, with two being sent to on Shuttle missions. Four were selected for Mir and an agreement was signed to train them further at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre. In 1993, a contract for two flights was signed, with

Ulf Merbold Ulf Dietrich Merbold (born June 20, 1941) is a German physicist and astronaut who flew to space three times, becoming the first West German citizen in space and the first non-American to fly on a NASA spacecraft. Merbold flew on two Space Shu ...

and

Thomas Reiter Thomas Arthur Reiter (born 23 May 1958 in Frankfurt, West Germany) is a retired European astronaut and is a Brigadier General in the German Air Force currently working as ESA Interagency Coordinator and Advisor to the Director General at the ...

being the prime candidates for 1994 and 1995, respectively.

Pedro Duque Pedro Francisco Duque Duque, OF, OMSE (Madrid, 14 March 1963) is a Spanish astronaut and aeronautics engineer who served as Minister of Science of the Government of Spain from 2018 to 2021. He was also Member of the Congress of Deputies fro ...

and

Christer Fuglesang Arne Christer Fuglesang (born 18 March 1957) is a Swedish physicist and an ESA astronaut. He was first launched aboard the STS-116 Space Shuttle mission on 10 December 2006, making him the first Swedish citizen in space. Married with three child ...

were chosen as backups. They were trained on Russian language and the systems of

Soyuz Soyuz is a transliteration of the Cyrillic text Союз ( Russian and Ukrainian, 'Union'). It can refer to any union, such as a trade union (''profsoyuz'') or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Сою́з Сове́тских Социалис ...

and Mir. Merbold and Reiter flew on EuroMir 94 (

Soyuz TM-20 Soyuz TM-20 was the twentieth expedition to the Russian Space Station Mir. It launched Russian cosmonauts Aleksandr Viktorenko, Yelena Kondakova, and German cosmonaut Ulf Merbold. Crew Mission highlights The flight carried 10 kg of equi ...

Soyuz TM-19 Soyuz TM-19 was a crewed Soyuz spaceflight to Mir. It launched on 1 July 1994, at 12:24:50 UTC. Crew Mission highlights Commander Malenchenko and Flight Engineer Musabayev, both spaceflight rookies, were to have been launched with veteran cos ...

) and EuroMir 95 (

Soyuz TM-22 Soyuz TM-22 was a Soyuz spaceflight to the Soviet space station Mir.The mission report is available here: http://www.spacefacts.de/mission/english/soyuz-tm22.htm It launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome Launch Pad 1 on September 3, 1995. After two d ...

), respectively. During Reiter's mission, he performed two spacewalks.

References

* http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Space_Year_2007/SEMHBF5Y1ZG_0.html * http://www.esa.int/esaCP/Pr_28_1994_p_EN.html European Space Agency Mir European astronauts {{Space-stub