Space News
space history and artifacts articles

Messages
space history discussion forums

Sightings
worldwide astronaut appearances

Resources
selected space history documents

  collectSPACE: Messages
  Soviet - Russian Space
  Soyuz TMA-12M mission to the space station

Post New Topic  Post A Reply
profile | register | preferences | faq | search

next newest topic | next oldest topic
Author Topic:   Soyuz TMA-12M mission to the space station
Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 03-23-2014 10:22 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Soyuz TMA-12M poised for launch

Soyuz TMA-12M commander Alexander Skvortsov of Roscosmos, Expedition 39/40 flight engineer Oleg Artemyev also of Roscosmos, and flight engineer Steve Swanson of NASA are set to launch to the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday (March 25) at 4:17 p.m. CDT (2117 GMT; 3:17 a.m. local time March 26), from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.


Credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov

They will dock their Soyuz to the station's Poisk module at 10:04 p.m. CDT (0304 GMT March 26) following a four-orbit rendezvous.

About two hours later, the hatches between Soyuz TMA-12M and the space station will open and Skvortsov, Artemyev and Swanson will be greeted by ISS Expedition 39 commander Koichi Wakata of JAXA, flight engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA and flight engineer Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, who have been on board the orbiting laboratory since early November.

Skvortsov, Artemyev and Swanson will stay on the station through mid-September. Wakata, Mastracchio and Tyurin will return to Earth on May 14, leaving Swanson as Expedition 40 commander.

On Sunday (March 23), the Soyuz-FG rocket topped with the Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft was rolled out to the launch pad by train and erected into position.


Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

See here to discuss the Soyuz TMA-12M mission to the space station.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 03-25-2014 06:35 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
collectSPACE
Soyuz TMA-12M launches three-man crew for station

A second-generation cosmonaut, an astronaut outdoorsman, and a cosmonaut who grew up in the shadow of his rocket's launch pad left the Earth for the International Space Station on Tuesday (March 25), where they will spend the next five and a half months conducting science experiments and operating the orbiting outpost.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov, cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev and NASA astronaut Steve Swanson lifted off onboard Russia's Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz rocket launched at 4:17 p.m. CDT (2117 GMT; 3:17 a.m. Kazakh time March 26) from the same pad used by the first man to fly in space, Yuri Gagarin, in April 1961.

Flying under the callsign Утёс ("Utyos," "Cliff"), the Soyuz TMA-12M crew were lofted into an accelerated trajectory to arrive at the space station in just six hours after circling the Earth four times. The trio were set to dock their Soyuz to the station's Poisk module at 10:04 p.m. CDT Tuesday night (0304 GMT March 26).

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 03-25-2014 10:28 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Soyuz TMA-12M docking to space station delayed

The arrival of Soyuz TMA-12M at the International Space Station, which had been planned for six hours after its launch on Tuesday, will now take place on Thursday night (March 27), the result of a missed engine firing.

Flight controllers at Russia's Mission Control Center outside Moscow have reverted the flight to the backup 34-orbit rendezvous, which has re-targeted the docking for 6:58 p.m. CDT (2358 GMT).

This longer rendezvous was the standard flight profile until last year; Soyuz TMA-12M would have been only the fifth mission to follow the accelerated timeline.

As the TMA-12M crew follows the revised schedule, flight controllers are reviewing the data to determine why the third thruster burn did not occur as expected. Initial information indicates the spacecraft may not have been in the proper orientation.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 03-27-2014 07:09 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Soyuz TMA-12M docks to space station

Two days after departing for a six-hour trip to the International Space Station, Soyuz TMA-12M arrived at the orbiting outpost on Thursday evening (March 27).

The Russian spacecraft safely performed an automated docking with the station's Poisk module at 6:53 p.m. CDT (2353 GMT) while flying above Brazil.

The docking marked the end of a 34-orbit rendezvous that resulted from a missed engine firing hours after Soyuz TMA-12M launched on Tuesday (March 25).

Now at the space station, the TMA-12M crew of Alexander Skvortsov, Oleg Artemyev, and Steve Swanson will serve as flight engineers on the outpost's Expedition 39 crew.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 09-10-2014 06:12 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Soyuz TMA-12M departs space station

Three Expedition 39/40 crew members are on their way home, having undocked at 6:01 p.m. CDT (2301 GMT) on Wednesday (Sept. 10) from the International Space Station's Poisk mini-research module. They will land in less than three and a half hours when their Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft touches down in Kazakhstan.

Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos and Steve Swanson of NASA closed the hatches to the Soyuz at 2:35 p.m. CDT. On Tuesday, Swanson turned over control of the space station to Max Suraev during a traditional change of command ceremony.

The homebound trio will orbit Earth twice before the Soyuz fires its deorbit engines at 8:30 p.m. CDT sending the spacecraft on its way home. About 28 minutes later, the Soyuz spacecraft will separate into three sections with the descent module, sandwiched in between the orbital module and instrumentation/propulsion module, carrying the crew home.

The descent module will enter the atmosphere about 3 minutes later. The other two modules will burn up in the atmosphere.

Two pilot parachutes will deploy first extracting the drogue chute to begin slowing the Soyuz' descent. The main chute will then deploy in stages ultimately covering an area of 1,000 meters.

Finally, less than a meter above the ground, rockets will fire to soften the landing as the Soyuz touches down in the steppe of Kazakhstan at 9:23 p.m. CDT (0223 GMT Sept. 11).

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 09-10-2014 09:50 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
collectSPACE
Soyuz TMA-12M returns space station trio and space whiskey to Earth

Two cosmonauts, an astronaut, and the makings for a stiff drink have landed safely back on Earth, returning from the International Space Station (ISS) to the steppe of Kazakhstan.

The crew of Russia's Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft, Steve Swanson of NASA and cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos, wrapped up 169 days in space as their capsule reentered Earth's atmosphere on Wednesday (Sep. 10). Descending under a parachute and slowed by braking thrusters, the Soyuz touched down at 9:23 p.m. CDT (0223 GMT) to the southeast of the remote Kazakh town of Dzhezkazgan.

See here to discuss the Soyuz TMA-12M mission to the space station.

All times are CT (US)

next newest topic | next oldest topic

Administrative Options: Close Topic | Archive/Move | Delete Topic
Post New Topic  Post A Reply
Hop to:

Contact Us | The Source for Space History & Artifacts

Copyright 2020 collectSPACE.com All rights reserved.


Ultimate Bulletin Board 5.47a





advertisement