Muhammed Faris, born May 26, 1951 in Aleppo, Syria, went into space aboard Soyuz TM-3 to Mir in July 1987. He remained on board as part of Mir EP-1 for about a week before returning to Earth on Soyuz TM-2.
He returned to Syria after the mission and defected from the regime, joining the opposition.
Soyuz TM-4, launched December 21, 1987, was the fourth manned mission to the space station Mir. Its crew at lift-off consisted of Commander Vladimir Titov, Musa Manarov and Anatoli Levenchenko. Titov and Manarov were part of the expedition Mir EO-3 and stayed in space for a year returning to Earth. Levchenko returned to Earth on Soyuz TM-3 a week later.
Soyuz TM-4 returned in June 1998 with crew of Mir EP-2:Commander Anatoly Solovyev, Viktor Savinykh and Aleksandr Aleksandrov. They had arrived a week earlier on Soyuz TM-5.
Yuri (Yury? Whatever.) Romanenko, born August 1, 1944 in the former Soviet Union, is a cosmonaut and a veteran of three missions to space.
His first trip was aboard Soyuz 26 to Salyut 6 in December 1977. During this mission, he performed an EVA, lasting one and a half hours.
His second trip was with Cuban cosmonaut Arnaldo Tamayo Mendez on Soyuz 38 in December 1980, to Salyut 6, but remained on board for only 7 days.
His third and final mission was on Soyuz TM-2 in February 1987 to the Mir space station. He spent 326 days aboard Mir, which was a record back then. He also conducted 3 EVA for a total of 8 hours, 48 minutes. He returned to Earth on Soyuz TM-3 in December 1987.
He retired from flights in 1988 to become the director of the Buran program, which was cancelled in 1993.
His son Roman, born August 9, 1971, is also a cosmonaut and commanded Soyuz TMA-15.
Soyuz TM-3 crew (L-R): Muhammed Faris, Aleksandr Aleksandrov, Alexander Viktorentko
Soyuz TM-3, launched July 22, 1987, was the third manned spacecraft to visit the space station Mir. Its crew consisted of Commander Alexander Viktorenko, Flight Engineer Aleksandr Aleksandrov, and research cosmonaut Muhammed Faris, first Syrian astronaut.
Viktorenko and Faris stayed on board approximately a week (Mir EP-1) and returned on Soyuz TM-2, but Aleksandrov stayed aboard as part of Mir EO-2.
Soyuz TM-3 returned to Earth December 29 with Yuri Romanenko, Aleksandrov and Anatoli Levchenko.
Anatoli Levchenko, born May 5, 1941, was a Russian cosmonaut who made one trip into space. He had been selected and trained as backup commander for the first Buran space flight before the program was cancelled.
He flew to the space station Mir aboard Soyuz TM-4 in December 21, 1987 and returned a week later aboard Soyuz TM-3, December 29.
Levchenko passed away in August 1988 from brain tumor.
Aleksandr Viktorenko, born March 29, 1947 in the former Soviet Union, is a veteran of four Soyuz missions.
His first mission was as Commander of Soyuz TM-3, which launched July 1987 to the space station Mir. The flight was notable since fellow cosmonaut Muhammed Faris, was the first Syrian in space. They made up the crew of Mir EP-1, but they were not a long-term duration crew. They returned aboard Soyuz TM-2 about a week later.
His second mission was also as Commander aboard Soyuz TM-8 to Mir. He and fellow cosmonaut Aleksandr Serebrov were the 5th long term crew, Mir EO-5. They launched September 5, 1989 and returned February 19, 1990, after 166 days in space.
His third flight as commander was aboard Soyuz TM-14 to Mir, which launched March 17, 1992. It was the first Russian mission after the collapse of the Soviet Union. With Aleksandr Kaleri, they made up Mir EO-11 and retunred to Earth August 10, after 149 days in space.
Viktorenko's fourth and final mission was Commander on Soyuz TM-20 to Mir in October 1994, where he and Yelena Kondakova were crew Mir EO-17. They returned to Earth in March 1995 after 169 days in space.
In total, Viktorenko has spent a total of 489 days in space. He retired May 30, 1997.
Soyuz TM-2, launched February 5, 1987, was the first flight of the Soyuz TM spacecraft and the second mission to the space station Mir. Its crew consisted of Yuri Romanenko and Aleksandr Laveykin.
It returned to Earth in July 1987 with Aleksandr Viktorenko, Aleksandr Laveykin, and Muhammed Faris (first Syrian and second Arab astronaut).
Romanenko stayed on Mir and returned to Earth in Soyuz TM-3 in December.
