Soyuz TM-31 was launched, carrying the first crew to reside long-term on the International Space Station.
The TM-31, launched from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome, was the first Soyuz spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station (ISS). An American Astronaut, William Shepherd, was a part of the crew, along with two Russian cosmonauts – Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev. They stayed aboard the ISS for 136 days.