Мир орбиталық стансасына соңғы сапар: Ғарышкерлердің жеке қаржымен ұшқан экспедициясы

Final crewed spaceflight to Mir
The mission was part of an effort by MirCorp to refurbish and privatize the aging Mir space station, which was nearing the end of its operational life. Further commercially funded missions beyond Soyuz TM 30 were originally planned to continue the restoration efforts of the then 14 year old space station, but insufficient funding and investment ultimately led to the de orbit of the station in early 2001.

Soyuz TM 30 was the first spaceflight for flight commander Zalyotin, who became a cosmonaut in 1990 and completed his general training two years later in 1992. TM 30 was the third visit to space made by flight engineer Kaleri, who became a cosmonaut in 1984 and completed general training in 1986. He served as flight engineer aboard the Soyuz TM 14 and TM 24 missions to Mir in 1992 and 1996–7, respectively.

While Soyuz TM 30 was in orbit, a second privately funded mission was being planned to continue the restoration efforts aboard Mir. The crew assigned to this mission, although never flown, was reported to have been the backup crew for TM 30, cosmonauts Salizhan Sharipov and Pavel Vinogradov. Towards the end of Soyuz TM 30 plans were formed to send another privately funded mission to continue with MirCorp's maintenance efforts; cosmonauts Salizhan Sharipov and Pavel Vinogradov were tentatively assigned as the crew. The plans were scrapped weeks before launch due to lack of funding, and space scenes were filmed in studio instead.

Soyuz TM 30 launched at 05:01:29 UT on April 4, 2000. Docking occurred on April 6 at 06:31:24 UT. Although the Soyuz docking system is automated under normal conditions, the final few meters of the approach to the station were executed in manual mode. The decision to switch to manual mode came after the cosmonauts noticed a small deviation in the spacecraft's approach to the targeted docking port. At about 09:32 UT on the day of docking, the crew prepared to open the hatches between the Soyuz spacecraft and the station. After entering the station the crew stabilized the atmosphere inside Mir and undertook routine maintenance work.

Soyuz TM 30 was the first privately funded crewed space expedition but several other firsts were also achieved, including the first privately funded extra vehicular activity, and the first privately funded uncrewed resupply mission to a space station, utilizing the Progress M1 spacecraft.