Soyuz TM-26 – FLOWN cover Pegasus France

From the celebrated astrophilatelic collection of Jacques Bracke

A remarkable Mir space station–flown Soyuz TM-26 cover, postmarked three times aboard Mir and hand-signed by all five astronauts and cosmonauts connected with the mission’s final crew transition. This is an especially attractive artifact from the closing years of Mir, when Russian, French, American, and international partners were building the experience that would soon be applied to the International Space Station.

The cover is signed by:

AndyThomas— US astronaut
Pavel V. Vinogradov — Soyuz TM-26 flight engineer and Mir EO-24 flight engineer
Talgat A. Musabayev — Soyuz TM-27 commander and incoming Mir EO-25 commander
Nikolai M. Budarin — Soyuz TM-27 flight engineer and incoming Mir EO-25 flight engineer
Léopold Eyharts — French CNES/ESA astronaut and participant in the French–Russian Pégase mission

Soyuz TM-26 launched in August 1997 carrying Solovyov and Vinogradov to Mir for the long-duration Mir EO-24 expedition. Their mission came at a demanding point in the station’s history, following the 1997 collision that damaged Mir’s Spektr module and reduced available power. The crew carried out essential recovery and repair work while maintaining the station’s scientific program and hosting a changing sequence of American Shuttle–Mir astronauts.

In January 1998, Soyuz TM-27 arrived with Musabayev, Budarin, and French astronaut Léopold Eyharts. Eyharts undertook the Pégase mission, a French–Russian scientific program conducted aboard Mir from 29 January to 19 February 1998. 

The Pégase connection gives the item particular European importance. Léopold Eyharts was among the leading French astronauts of his generation, and his Mir mission formed an important chapter in France’s long-running cooperation with the Russian human-spaceflight program. He later returned to space as an ESA astronaut on the International Space Station, linking the Mir era directly with the next generation of multinational orbital exploration.

The three genuine Mir postmarks provide tangible evidence of the cover’s time aboard the station. Combined with the complete five-signature group, the rare overlap of Soyuz TM-26 and TM-27 personnel, the French Pégase mission association, and the distinguished Jacques Bracke provenance, this is a superb centerpiece for collectors of Mir, Soyuz, French spaceflight, Shuttle–Mir history, and astronaut-signed astrophilately.