On 2/12/97, two Russian cosmonauts joined an American astronaut on board the only permanent manned space outpost, the 11-year-old mir. It was to be a routine mission, the 4th of seven trips to mir that NASA astronauts wo...On 2/12/97, two Russian cosmonauts joined an American astronaut on board the only permanent manned space outpost, the 11-year-old mir. It was to be a routine mission, the 4th of seven trips to mir that NASA astronauts would take as dress rehearsals for the two countries' partnership in a new intern'l space station they were building back on earth.