Soyuz TMA-27 "Pegase" - FLOWN MIR cover - French flight

Soyuz TM-27 “Pégase” — Mir-Flown RKK Energia Cover Signed by Five Cosmonauts, Including Léopold Eyharts

An exceptional space-flown cover carried aboard the Mir space station during the Soyuz TM-27 mission and the French–Russian Pégase expedition, officially produced by RKK Energia and hand-signed by five of the astronauts and cosmonauts connected with this historic crew exchange.

The cover bears two onboard Mir cancellations dated January 31, 1998, the day Soyuz TM-27 docked with the station, and February 19, 1998, the day French cosmonaut Léopold Eyharts departed Mir for his return to Earth. Together, these postmarks document the arrival and conclusion of the Pégase mission with exceptional precision.

From the collection of Jacquest Bracke.

Hand-signed by five Mir cosmonauts

The cover is signed by the members of the incoming and outgoing Russian crews, together with French research cosmonaut Léopold Eyharts:

• Talgat Musabayev — Soyuz TM-27 commander and Mir Expedition 25 commander
• Nikolai Budarin — Soyuz TM-27 flight engineer and Mir Expedition 25 flight engineer
• Léopold Eyharts — CNES research cosmonaut and Pégase mission specialist
• Anatoly Solovyev — Mir Expedition 24 commander
• Pavel Vinogradov — Mir Expedition 24 flight engineer

This remarkable group represents the handover between Mir Expeditions 24 and 25, as well as the continuation of the long-running French–Russian scientific partnership aboard the station.

Léopold Eyharts and the Pégase mission

The centerpiece of this cover is its association with Léopold Eyharts, the French Air Force test pilot and CNES astronaut selected to conduct the Pégase scientific mission aboard Mir.

Eyharts launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard Soyuz TM-27 on January 29, 1998, together with Talgat Musabayev and Nikolai Budarin. The spacecraft docked with Mir two days later, on January 31—the date of the cover’s first onboard cancellation.

During his approximately three-week flight, Eyharts performed a program of French scientific experiments developed by CNES. The Pégase mission continued France’s extensive record of cooperation with the Soviet and Russian human-spaceflight programs, particularly in life sciences, human physiology, technology and microgravity research.

At the conclusion of his stay, Eyharts returned to Earth on February 19, 1998, aboard Soyuz TM-26 with outgoing Mir Expedition 24 cosmonauts Anatoly Solovyev and Pavel Vinogradov. Musabayev and Budarin remained aboard Mir to begin the long-duration Expedition 25 mission.

The second onboard postmark, dated February 19, therefore marks the exact day Eyharts left Mir and completed the orbital phase of the Pégase expedition.

A veteran of both Mir and the ISS

Léopold Eyharts later returned to space in 2008 aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-122. During that mission, he joined the International Space Station’s Expedition 16 crew and helped commission the European Space Agency’s Columbus laboratory.

His career consequently links two generations of European human spaceflight: the pioneering French research missions aboard Mir and Europe’s permanent scientific presence aboard the ISS.

A cover documenting a historic Mir crew exchange

Soyuz TM-27 was launched not merely as a visiting flight but as the transport mission for Mir’s new long-duration crew. Musabayev and Budarin replaced Solovyev and Vinogradov, while Eyharts accompanied them as the French research cosmonaut assigned to Pégase. ESA identifies Musabayev, Budarin and Eyharts as the Soyuz TM-27 launch crew.

The two precisely dated Mir cancellations allow this cover to record both ends of that transition:

• January 31, 1998: Soyuz TM-27 docked with Mir and the Pégase mission began aboard the station
• February 19, 1998: Eyharts departed with the outgoing Mir Expedition 24 crew aboard Soyuz TM-26

Highlights include:

• Flown aboard the Mir space station
• Official RKK Energia cover
• Connected with Soyuz TM-27 and the French Pégase mission
• Postmarked aboard Mir on January 31 and February 19, 1998
• Signed by five cosmonauts from the incoming and outgoing Mir crews
• Includes French cosmonaut Léopold Eyharts
• Documents the handover from Mir Expedition 24 to Expedition 25
• Connects French, Russian and European human-spaceflight history

A highly desirable artifact of late-era Mir exploration, combining genuine spaceflight, precisely dated onboard postal markings, a complete five-person mission-related signature group and an important association with French astronaut Léopold Eyharts.