| Mir EP-2 | |
| Insignia: | Soyuz TM-5 mission patch.svg |
| Mission Type: | Mir visiting crew |
| Mission Duration: | 9.84 days (launch to landing) |
| Crew Size: | Three |
| Crew Members: | Anatoly Solovyev Viktor Savinykh Aleksandr Aleksandrov |
| Crew Callsign: | Родни́к (Rodnik- Spring) |
| Space Station: | Mir |
| Arrival Craft: | Soyuz TM-5[1] |
| Previous Mission: | EP-1 |
| Next Mission: | EP-3 |
| Programme: | Mir Visiting Expeditions |
Mir EP-2 was a visiting expedition to the Mir space station conducted in June 1988 by cosmonauts Anatoly Solovyev, Viktor Savinykh and Aleksandr Aleksandrov. Launched aboard the Soyuz TM-5 spacecraft, the crew spent ten days in space before returning to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-4. The mission occurred while the EO-3 crew were aboard Mir.
Solovyev commanded the mission, with Savinykh as his flight engineer, while Bulgarian Aleksandr Panayatov Aleksandrov flew as a research cosmonaut. Aleksandrov was the second Bulgarian to fly in space, the first being Georgi Ivanov, who flew on Soyuz 33. Ivanov failed to reach the Salyut 6 space station as his mission was aborted prior to docking due to an engine failure aboard his spacecraft Soyuz 33.[2] As a result, prior to EP-2, Bulgaria was the only Eastern European Soviet ally to not have one of its citizens visit a Soviet space station.[3]
| Mir EP-2 | Name | Spaceflight | Launch | Landing | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commander | Anatoly Solovyev | First | 7 June 1988 Soyuz TM-5 | 17 June 1988 Soyuz TM-4 | 9.8 days |
| Flight Engineer | Viktor Savinykh | Third | |||
| Research cosmonaut |  Aleksandr Aleksandrov | First |
During his visit, Aleksandrov used nearly 2,000 kg of equipment delivered by Progress spacecraft to conduct 46 experiments in the Shipka programme.
The visiting EP-2 crew returned to Earth about a week later in the spacecraft Soyuz TM-4, leaving TM-5 as the station's lifeboat.[4]
