Soviet cosmonaut Leonid Kizim, who in 1986 commanded the only mission in history to visit two space stations in one flight - which also marked the first crewed flight to Mir - died Monday, according to Russia's Federal Space Agency. He was 68.

On March 13, 1986, Kizim, a veteran of two earlier space flights, launched with crewmate Vladimir Solovyov on Soyuz T-15 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. After two days catching up with the fledging station in orbit, they docked with the then-one-module Mir outpost.

As the inaugural crew to Mir, the first continuously crewed space station, Kizim and Solovyov spent 51 days configuring the core module and unloading two unmanned Progress cargo vehicles that arrived during their stay. It was the second mission together for the two cosmonauts, who earlier flew together on the Soyuz T-10 mission in 1984.

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