Soyuz TM-17 was a Russian mission to the space station Mir, launched on July 1, 1993. It lasted 196 days and 17 hours, making more than 3,000 orbits of the planet Earth. The Soyuz-TM crew transports (T - транспортный - Transportnyi - meaning transport, M - модифицированный - Modifitsirovannyi - meaning modified) were fourth generation (1986–2002) Soyuz spacecraft used for ferry flights to the Mir and ISS space stations. It added to the Soyuz-T new docking and rendezvous, radio communications, emergency and integrated parachute/landing engine systems.