500 Tögrög Mir

The "Mir" in this coin's title refers to the Soviet space station, which operated from 1986 until its controlled deorbit in March 2001 — a deliberate reentry over the South Pacific after Russia concluded the cost of maintaining it was unsustainable. Mongolia's connection is direct: cosmonaut Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa flew aboard a Soyuz mission to the earlier Salyut 6 station in 1981, making him the first Mongolian in space and a national hero.