The Soyuz TM29 mission of Russian Viktor Afanasyev, Frenchman Jean Pierre Haignere and Slovak Ivan Bella has been cleared for launch to the Mir space station on 20 February. It will be the first Soviet mission with two guest cosmonauts aboard, withveteran Haignere the first foreign flight engineer.
Bella will return with resident TM28 commander Gennadi Padalka after a 10-day flight, while TM28 flight engineer Sergei Avdeyev will stay with the TM29 crew.
The fate of the Mir space station has still not been decided and it is possible that it will be abandoned and de-orbited as planned in June. If not, the TM29 mission will be extended to 21 August and a TM30 crew of Sergei Zalyotin and Alexander Kaleri will be launched to replace them.
The Russian Space Agency has not revealed any more details about a "private investment company" which proposes to fund the continuation of Mir operations.
Source: Flight International