Soyuz TM-21 was the 21st mission and the 18th long-duration expedition to Mir space station. It was also a part of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir Program. The mission began on March 14, 1995, 06:11:34 UTC, launching Commander Vladimir Dezhurov, Flight Engineer Gennady Strekalov and Research Cosmonaut Norman Thagard (who became the first American to ride the Soyuz) into orbit. They docked with Mir two days later. During their stay there, cosmonauts performed several EVAs to prepare for the docking of the new Spektr module. Station crew was visited by several Progress resupply spacecrafts, and welcomed aboard the STS-71 with the 19th expedition crew. Crews exchanged vehicles, and members of the 18th expedition returned aboard STS-71, landing safely back on Earth on 7 July 1995, 14:55:28 UTC. Soyuz TM-21 brought back the 19th expedition later on September 11, 1995, 06:52:40 UTC.

The Soyuz-U2 was a Soviet, later Russian, carrier rocket. It was derived from the Soyuz-U, and a member of the R-7 family of rockets. It featured increased performance compared with the baseline Soyuz-U, due to the use of syntin propellant, as opposed to RP-1 paraffin, used on the Soyuz-U.

The Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities, commonly known as Roscosmos, is the governmental body responsible for the space science program of the Russian Federation and general aerospace research. Soyuz has many launch locations the Russian sites are Baikonur, Plesetsk and Vostochny however Ariane also purchases the vehicle and launches it from French Guiana.

• Shuttle–Mir

  Human Spaceflight
  The Shuttle–Mir program was a collaborative 11-mission space program between Russia and the United States that involved American Space Shuttles visiting the Russian space station Mir, Russian cosmonauts flying on the Shuttle, and an American astronaut flying aboard a Soyuz spacecraft to engage in long-duration expeditions aboard Mir.
  Program infoProgram wiki
• Soyuz

  Human Spaceflight
  The Soyuz programme is a human spaceflight programme initiated by the Soviet Union in the early 1960s. The Soyuz spacecraft was originally part of a Moon landing project intended to put a Soviet cosmonaut on the Moon. It was the third Soviet human spaceflight programme after the Vostok and Voskhod programmes.
  Program wiki
• Mir

  Human Spaceflight
  Mir 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 1996.
  Program wiki

• Vladimir Dezhurov
  Commander
• Norman E. Thagard
  Research Cosmonaut
• Gennadi Strekalov
  Flight Engineer
• Anatoly Solovyev
  Commander
• Nikolai Budarin
  Flight Engineer