Soyuz TMA-8

Soyuz TMA -8 is the mission name for the flight of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS). As part of the ISS program, the flight is called ISS AF -12S. It is the twelfth visit to a Soyuz spacecraft to the ISS and the 118th flight in the Russian Sojusprogramm.

Crew

Start crew

  • Pavel Vinogradov ( second space flight), Commander ( Roscosmos / Russia)
  • Jeffrey Nels Williams ( second space flight), flight engineer (NASA / USA)
  • Marcos César Pontes ( first space flight ), flight engineer (AEB / Brazil)

Backup crew

  • Fyodor Nikolayevich Yurchikhin, Commander ( Roscosmos / Russia)
  • Edward Michael Fincke, Flight Engineer (NASA / USA)
  • Sergei Alexandrovich Volkov, Flight Engineer ( Roscosmos / Russia)

Return crew

  • Pavel Vinogradov ( second space flight), Commander ( Roscosmos / Russia)
  • Jeffrey Nels Williams ( second space flight), flight engineer (NASA / USA)
  • Anousheh Ansari, space tourist (USA / Iran)

Mission overview

This flight was a crew exchange mission to the ISS and the 29th manned flight to the station. The working on the Space Station Expedition 12 was replaced by the crew of Expedition 13. It consisted of Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov and American Jeffrey Williams. Also, the first Brazilian astronaut Marcos Pontes took part in the flight.

NASA paid the Russian space agency $ 43.8 million for the flight of Jeffrey Williams to the ISS as well as for the return flight of the commander of ISS Expedition 12, William McArthur. This amount also covered the cost of the Soyuz spacecraft with a possible emergency return and the cost of the training of the next U.S. astronaut Michael Lopez - Alegria, who flew on Soyuz TMA -9.

The launch took place at a carrier rocket Soyuz -FG type from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 30 March 2006 at 02:30:18 UTC clock. Nine minutes after the launch, the spacecraft separated from the third stage of the rocket, then the solar panels were expanded. During the entry into orbit, there were minor problems with the reception of telemetry data in the control, but had no effect on the flight. The basic difficulties presented with the transfer of data via a Molniya communications satellites out. Docking with the ISS ( the Zarya module in automatic mode ) was carried out as planned on 1 April 2006 at 04:19:26 UTC clock over China.

There were provided two exits ( EVAs ). The first took place in June and was conducted by Jeff Williams and Pavel Vinogradov. The second exit was followed in August, this time Jeff Williams and the German ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter worked outside the station.

August 31, 2006 Roscosmos postponed the launch of Soyuz TMA -9 by four days in order not to have to dock with the station during Space Shuttle mission STS -115. This also started to make its landing date of the Soyuz TMA -8 from 24 to 29 September.

Further details concerning the work of the crew on the ISS ISS Expedition 13 will be described in the article.

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