[3] Commander Malenchenko and Flight Engineer Musabayev, both spaceflight rookies, were to have been launched with veteran cosmonaut Gennadi Strekalov, who would have returned to Earth with Viktor Afanasyev and Yuri Usachov in Soyuz TM-18 after a few days on Mir.

However, the cancellation of one of two Progress-M cargo ships scheduled to resupply Mir during the Agat crew's stay meant that Strekalov's couch had to carry supplies.

Both cosmonauts and Doctor Valeri Polyakov (who had arrived on Soyuz TM-18) became the 16th resident crew; many technical problems with the station arose during this expedition, necessitating a previously untried manual supply docking by Malenchenko.

On November 3, Malenchenko, Musabayev and Merbold undocked in Soyuz TM-19 and backed 190m from Mir.

The test was related to the difficulties Soyuz TM-20 and Progress M-24 experienced during their automatic approaches.