Soyuz TMA-16M
Operator | Roskosmos |
---|---|
COSPAR ID | 2015-016A |
SATCAT no. | 40542 |
Mission duration | 168d 5h 9m |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft type | Soyuz-TMA 11F732A47 No.716 |
Manufacturer | RKK Energia |
Crew | |
Crew size | 3 |
Members | Gennady Padalka |
Launching | Mikhail Korniyenko Scott Kelly |
Landing | Andreas Mogensen Aydyn Aimbetov |
Callsign | Altair[1] |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 27 March 2015 19:42:57 UTC[2] |
Rocket | Soyuz-FG |
Launch site | Baikonur 1/5 |
End of mission | |
Landing date | 12 September 2015 00:51 UTC |
Landing site | Kazakhstan |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric |
Regime | Low Earth |
Docking with ISS | |
Docking port | Poisk zenith |
Docking date | 28 March 2015 01:33 UTC |
Undocking date | 28 August 2015 03:12 UTC |
Time docked | 153d 1h 39m |
Docking with ISS (Relocation) | |
Docking port | Zvezda aft |
Docking date | 28 August 2015 03:30 UTC[3] |
Undocking date | 11 September 2015 21:29 UTC |
Time docked | 14d 17h 59m |
File:Soyuz-TMA-16M-Mission-Patch.png
(l-r) Kelly, Padalka and Kornienko Soyuz programme (Crewed missions) |
Soyuz TMA-16M was a 2015 flight to the International Space Station.[4] It transported three members of the Expedition 43 crew to the Station. TMA-16M was the 125th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft, the first having launched in 1967.
Scott Kelly and Mikhail Korniyenko performed the first one-year stay at the Space Station,[4] returning in Soyuz TMA-18M.
Crew
Position[5] | Launching Crew Member | Landing Crew Member |
---|---|---|
Commander | Gennady Padalka, RSA Expedition 43 Fifth and last spaceflight | |
Flight Engineer 1 | Mikhail Korniyenko, RSA Expedition 43 Second and last spaceflight |
Andreas Mogensen, ESA Iriss[6] First spaceflight |
Flight Engineer 2 | Scott Kelly, NASA Expedition 43 Fourth and last spaceflight |
Aidyn Aimbetov[7], KazCosmos N/A First spaceflight |
Backup crew
Position[8] | Crew Member | |
---|---|---|
Commander | Aleksey Ovchinin, RSA | |
Flight Engineer 1 | Sergey Volkov, RSA | |
Flight Engineer 2 | Jeffrey Williams, NASA |
Mission highlights
Launch, rendezvous and docking
Soyuz TMA-16M was launched successfully aboard a Soyuz-FG rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 19:42 UTC on Friday, 27 March 2015. The spacecraft reached low Earth orbit approximately nine minutes after lift-off. After executing rendezvous maneuvers, the Soyuz docked with the zenith port of the International Space Station's Poisk module approximately six hours after launch, at 01:33 UTC on 28 March. The docking occurred over Colombia.[9][10]
Soyuz TMA-16M remained docked to the ISS—serving as an emergency escape vehicle–until September 12, 2015, when it departed and returned Padalka, Andreas Mogensen and Aydyn Aimbetov to Earth.[7] This vehicle was previously scheduled to carry Sarah Brightman as a space tourist, but Brightman's flight was announced to be cancelled in May 2015.[11]
Relocation maneuver
Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft was relocated from Poisk module to the orbiting laboratory's Zvezda module service module on 28 August 2015.[3] This cleared the Poisk module for the arrival of Soyuz TMA-18M.
Undocking and return to Earth
Soyuz TMA-16M undocked from the ISS at 21:29 UTC on 11 September 2015, containing Gennady Padalka of Roscosmos and visiting crew members Andreas Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency) and Aidyn Aimbetov of the Kazakh Space Agency. Following a deorbit burn, the Soyuz spacecraft's descent module reentered the Earth's atmosphere. The crew landed safely in Kazakhstan at 00:51 UTC on 12 September 2015, just over three hours after departing the ISS.[12]
Gallery
-
Soyuz TMA-16M rocket shortly after rollout.
-
TMA-16M launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
-
Korniyenko (right), Padalka (center) and Kelly (left) inside the spacecraft prior to the relocation maneuver.
-
Departure of Soyuz TMA-16M.
-
Reentry of Soyuz TMA-16M as seen from the ISS.
References
- ^ Soyuz TMA-16M mission updates Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine Spaceflight101, 28 march 2015
- ^ Clark, Stephen. "Live coverage: Crew ready to begin record-setting space mission". SpaceflightNow. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
- ^ a b "Soyuz Relocation". NASA. Retrieved 29 Aug 2015.
- ^ a b NASA, Roscosmos Assign Veteran Crew to Yearlong Space Station Mission NASA, 2012-11-26.
- ^ Планируемые полёты (in Russian). astronaut.ru. Retrieved 2012-06-30.
- ^ Agencia Espacial Europea. "Andreas Mogensen's mission name links cosmos and Earth". Retrieved 22 June 2015.
- ^ a b TASS (22 June 2015). "Kazakhstani cosmonaut to fly to ISS in September in place of British singer Brightman".
- ^ astronaut.ru (2013). "Орбитальные полёты".
- ^ "Soyuz TMA-16M kicks off historic one year expedition". NASASpaceflight.com. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
- ^ "One Year Crew Arrives at Station". NASA. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
- ^ "Brightman steps down from station flight". Spaceflightnow.com. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
- ^ "Soyuz Return to Earth". NASA. Retrieved 11 Sep 2015.