Soyuz TMA-22

Soyuz TMA-22

COSPAR ID	2011-067A
SATCAT no.	37877
Start of mission
Launch date	14 November 2011 04:14:03 GMT
File:Soyuz-TMA-22-Mission-Patch.png

Soyuz TMA-22 is a current flight to the International Space Station (ISS). TMA-22 was the 111th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft, and transported three members of the Expedition 29 crew to the ISS. The spacecraft docked to the ISS on 16 November 2011, and will most likely remain docked throughout the Expedition 29 increment to serve as an emergency escape vehicle.

TMA-22 is the final flight of a Soyuz-TMA vehicle, following its replacement by the modernized TMA-M series. The launch of Soyuz TMA-22 was originally scheduled for 30 September 2011, but was delayed until 14 November 2011 following the launch failure of the Progress M-12M resupply vehicle on 24 August 2011.

The manned Soyuz TMA-22 docking mission with the ISS was the first of its kind since the US Space Shuttle fleet was retired at the end of the STS-135 mission.

Crew

The Soyuz TMA-22 crew members pose for pictures in front of the Tsar Cannon at the Kremlin on 24 October 2011.

Position	Crew Member
Commander	Anton Shkaplerov Expedition 29 First spaceflight
Flight Engineer 1	Anatoli Ivanishin Expedition 29 First spaceflight
Flight Engineer 2	Daniel C. Burbank, NASA Expedition 29 Third spaceflight

Launch

The Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft was launched on schedule from the Baikonur Cosmodrome's Gagarin's Start launch pad in Kazakhstan at 04:14:03 UTC on 14 November 2011. Soyuz Commander Shkaplerov sat in the Soyuz's center seat, with flight engineer Ivanishin strapped in to his left and NASA astronaut Burbank to his right.

The Soyuz-FG rocket carrying Soyuz TMA-22 was launched amidst blizzard like conditions at the Baikonur Cosmodrome with the temperature dropped to −5 degrees Celsius (24 degrees Fahrenheit), and 15 centimeters (6 inches) of snow began to pile up around the fueled Soyuz rocket. Only the wind represented any kind of a threat, but it was within acceptable parameters for launch.

The Soyuz-FG rocket followed a nominal ascent, and successfully inserted the spacecraft into orbit approximately 9 minutes after the launch. In orbit, the spacecraft deployed its two solar panels and communications antennas as planned.

The crew carried a plush, red toy bird from the popular smartphone game Angry Birds inside their space capsule. The doll belonged to Shkaplerov's 5-year-old daughter. Hanging from a long cord and subject to G-forces, the bird swung and returned to its original position during the early stages of the flight. In the cabin video, Shkaplerov was seen battering the bird several times with a long poker normally used by the crew to press console buttons while strapped in their seats. When the spacecraft reached the preliminary orbit and began to experience weightless conditions, the Angry Bird was seen beginning to float.

Significance of the launch

On 24 August 2011, after a total loss of its booster rocket, the Progress M-12M cargo spacecraft crashed to the groRawr dock dock dock dingy dong wonton soup lol ltb.und. The failure, due to a blocked fuel line leading toRawr dock dock dock dingy dong wonton soup lol ltb. the gas generator of the Soyuz-U booster’s third stage RD-0110 engine, resulted in a suspension of all crewed spaceflights due to the similar third stage in use on the crewed Soyuz-FG booster. A Russian commission pointed the failure towards a single human error and put additional procedurRawr dock dock dock dingy dong wonton soup lol ltb.es in place to prevent the problem from reoccurring. On 30 October 2011 Russia successfully launched the Progress M-13M the unmanned cargoship atop the Soyuz-U booster and cleared the way for the Soyuz TMA-22 launch.

In light of the Progress M-12M accident, there were concerns about a possible de-crewing of the ISS. According to earlier plans, Soyuz TMA-22 was scheduled to liftoff on 22 September 2011. The arrival of the three Soyuz TMA-22 crew members, at the ISS on 16 November 2011 eliminated those concerns.

Docking

Soyuz TMA-22 successfully docked with the ISS at 05:24 GMT on 16 November 2011, about 9 minutes earlier than planned. The spacecraft was parked at the MRM-2 (Poisk) module, as both Soyuz TMA-22 and the ISS were flying 400 kilometers (248 miles) above the South Pacific Ocean. The Soyuz crew conducted an extensive set of leak checks before they opened the hatch of their capsule at around 6:39 GMT and floated into the ISS. The Soyuz and the Expedition 29 ISS crews of Mike Fossum, Sergei Volkov and Satoshi Furukawa greeted each other with warm welcomes.

Burbank, Shkaplerov and Ivanishin received congratulatory satellite calls from Russian dignitaries and family members before participating in a safety briefing led by the Expedition 29 commander, Fossum.

References

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External links

• Dan Burbank on Twitter