Dr. Reinhold Ewald (born December 18, 1956) is a German physicist and ESA astronaut. In 1990, he was selected to the German astronaut team, training for the Mir '92 mission. He was the backup of Klaus-Dietrich Flade for the Soyuz TM-14 mission. In 1995 he began training for the second German Mir mission. In February 1997 he flew to the space station Mir with Soyuz TM-25, spending 20 days in space. He performed experiments in biomedical and material sciences, and carried out operational tests in preparation for the International Space Station.
Soyuz TM-24 was the 27th mission and the 22nd long-duration expedition to Mir space station. It was also a part of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir Program. The mission began on 17 August 1996, 13:18:03 UTC, launching Commander Valery Korzun, Flight Engineer Aleksandr Kaleri and Research Cosmonaut Claudie André-Deshays into orbit. They docked with Mir two days later. During their stay there, cosmonauts performed several EVAs and various scientific experiments. Station crew was visited by several Progress resupply spacecrafts, STS-79 and STS-81, and welcomed aboard Soyuz TM-25 with the next expedition crew. The mission concluded with a safe landing back on Earth on March 2, 1997, 06:44:16 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz TM-25 was the 30th mission and the 23rd long-duration expedition to Mir space station. It was also a part of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir Program. The mission began on February 10, 1997, 14:09:30 UTC, launching Commander Vasili Tsibliyev, Flight Engineer Aleksandr Lazutkin and Research Cosmonaut Reinhold Ewald into orbit. They docked with Mir two days later. During their stay there, cosmonauts performed an EVA and various scientific experiments in medicine, biotechnology, Earth sciences etc. Station crew was visited by several Progress resupply spacecrafts, STS-84, and welcomed aboard Soyuz TM-26 with the next expedition crew. The mission concluded with a safe landing back on Earth on August 14, 1997, 12:17:10 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitThe European Space Agency is an intergovernmental organisation of 22 member states. Established in 1975 and headquartered in Paris, France, ESA has a worldwide staff of about 2,000 employees. ESA's space flight programme includes human spaceflight (mainly through participation in the International Space Station program); the launch and operation of unmanned exploration missions to other planets and the Moon; Earth observation, science and telecommunication; designing launch vehicles; and maintaining a major spaceport, the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou, French Guiana.