Soyuz TMA-18M
| Operator | Roskosmos | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spacecraft properties | |||||
| Spacecraft type | Soyuz-TMA 11F747 | ||||
| Manufacturer | RKK Energia | ||||
| Crew | |||||
| Crew size | 3 | ||||
| Members | Sergey Volkov | ||||
| Launching | Andreas Mogensen Aydyn Aimbetov |
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| Landing | Mikhail Korniyenko Scott Kelly |
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| Start of mission | |||||
| Launch date | September 2, 2015 04:37:42 UTC |
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| Rocket | Soyuz-FG | ||||
| Orbital parameters | |||||
| Reference system | Geocentric | ||||
| Regime | Low Earth | ||||
| Docking with ISS | |||||
| Docking port | Poisk | ||||
| Docking date | September 4, 2015 07:42:00 UTC |
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| Undocking date | March 3, 2016 (Planned) |
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Soyuz TMA-18M is a Soyuz spaceflight launched on 2 September 2015. It will provide the two twelve-months occupants (Scott Kelly and Mikhail Korniyenko) at the International Space Station with a fresh Soyuz capsule. TMA-18M is the 127th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft; the first having occurred in 1967. The ascent flight consists of a Russian commander and two flight engineers from Denmark (ESA) and Kazakhstan respectively.[1]
The Kazakh Aidyn Aimbetov is of the first Kazakh cosmonaut class, and the first selected to fly.[2] The ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen became the first Dane in space.[3]
The descent crew will be the same Russian commander and the two twelve-months occupants in March 2016. Two of the ascent crew members returned to Earth with Soyuz TMA-16M in September 2015.
Crew[edit]
| Position[4] | Launching Crew Member | Landing Crew Member |
|---|---|---|
| Commander | Sergey Volkov, RSA Expedition 45 Third spaceflight |
|
| Flight Engineer 1 | Andreas Mogensen[5], ESA Iriss[6] First spaceflight |
Mikhail Korniyenko, RSA Expedition 45 Second spaceflight |
| Flight Engineer 2 | Aidyn Aimbetov[1], KazCosmos N/A First spaceflight |
Scott Kelly, NASA Expedition 45 Fourth spaceflight |
Backup crew[edit]
| Position[7] | Crew Member | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander | Oleg Skripochka, RSA | |
| Flight Engineer 1 | Thomas Pesquet, ESA | |
| Flight Engineer 2 | Sergey Prokopyev[1], RSA | |
Space tourist in the third seat[edit]
Originally the third member should have been the British singer Sarah Brightman as a space tourist, but on May 13, 2015, she announced she had withdrawn from training.[8]
Japanese entrepreneur Satoshi Takamatsu trained as Sarah Brightman's backup, but he withdrew from the flight as the art projects he had planned to carry out would not be ready by the September launch date. He stated he would try for a later flight when his projects were ready to fly.[2]
Russian businessman Filaret Galchev was offered the seat, but he realized that he didn't have the time to prepare himself for the flight.[1]
Roscosmos chose the Kazakh cosmonaut Aidyn Aimbetov as an alternative instead.[2]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d TASS (22 June 2015). "Kazakhstani cosmonaut to fly to ISS in September in place of British singer Brightman".
- ^ a b c Jeff Foust (22 June 2015). "Kazakh Cosmonaut To Take Brightman’s Place On Soyuz Flight". Space News.
- ^ "Soyuz TMA-18M launches on two day trip to ISS". 1 September 2015.
- ^ Планируемые полёты (in Russian). astronaut.ru. Retrieved 2012-09-04.
- ^ Andreas Mogensen set for Soyuz mission to Space Station in 2015
- ^ ESA. "Andreas Mogensen’s mission name links cosmos and Earth". Retrieved 22 June 2015.
- ^ astronaut.ru (2013). "Орбитальные полёты".
- ^ Singer Sarah Brightman calls off flight to space station 13 May 2015
External links[edit]
Media related to Soyuz TMA-18M at Wikimedia Commons
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