posted 11-05-2013 08:56 AM               

This thread is intended for comments and questions about the Soyuz TMA-11M mission and the updates published under the topic: Soyuz TMA-11M mission to the space station.

TMA-11M will launch three crew members for Expedition 38 aboard the International Space Station (ISS): Roscosmos cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

TMA-11M will be the 120th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft since its first flight in 1967.

See here to discuss the spaceflight of the Sochi 2014 Olympic torch.

posted 01-21-2020 08:17 AM               

At this time, with six-person ISS crews and nobody flying extended missions, normally the departing Soyuz would leave and the station would be crewed by three for a few weeks prior to the new Soyuz arriving and re-expanding the crew back to six.

So, if the normal schedule had been followed, Soyuz TMA-09M would have departed and Soyuz TMA-11M would have docked in its place a few weeks later.

However, in this mission's case, Soyuz TMA-09M was moved to the aft port of Zvezda to allow Soyuz TMA-11M to dock. This put nine people (and three Soyuz spacecraft) on the station for a few days.

No crew exchange was made involving Soyuz TMA-09M or TMA-11M. So, what was the purpose of this change in scheduling?

posted 01-21-2020 09:14 AM               

It is not an official mission, but more of an acknowledgement of a unique handover between crews.