Soyuz TM-34 was the fourth

Soyuz Soyuz is a transliteration of the Cyrillic text Союз (Russian language, Russian and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, 'Union'). It can refer to any union, such as a trade union (''profsoyuz'') or the Soviet Union, Union of Soviet Socialist Republi ...

mission to the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

(ISS). Soyuz TM-34 was launched by a

Soyuz-U Soyuz-U ( GRAU index: 11A511U) was a Soviet and later Russian expendable medium-lift launch vehicle designed by the TsSKB design bureau and constructed at the Progress factory in Samara, Russia. The ''U'' designation stands for ''unified' ...

launch vehicle.

Crew

Docking with ISS

*Docked to ISS: April 27, 2002, 07:55 UTC (to

nadir The nadir is the direction pointing directly ''below'' a particular location; that is, it is one of two vertical directions at a specified location, orthogonal to a horizontal flat surface. The direction opposite of the nadir is the zenith. Et ...

port of Zarya) *Undocked from ISS: November 9, 2002, 20:44 UTC (from nadir port of Zarya)

Mission highlights

This was the 17th crewed mission to ISS. Soyuz TM-34 was a Russian Soyuz TM passenger transportation craft that was launched by a Soyuz-U rocket from Baikonur at 06:26 UT on 25 April 2002. It carried two cosmonauts and a South African tourist,

Mark Shuttleworth Mark Richard Shuttleworth (born 18 September 1973) is a South African and British entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Canonical, the company behind the Ubuntu Linux operating system. In 2002, Shuttleworth became the first African to travel to spa ...

, to the

(ISS). Shuttleworth performed some biology experiments, as he carried a live rat and sheep stem cells. All three returned on Soyuz TM-33 after an eight-day mission. Soyuz TM-34 was the final flight of the

Soyuz-TM The Soyuz TM () were fourth generation (1986–2002) Soyuz spacecraft used for ferry flights to the Mir and International Space Station, ISS space stations. The Soyuz spacecraft consisted of four parts, the Orbital Module, the Descent Module and ...

variant, due to its replacement by the upgraded Soyuz-TMA. It was also the last crewed vehicle to launch atop the

rocket, although the Soyuz-U continued to launch uncrewed vehicles until 2017.

References

{{Orbital launches in 2002 Crewed Soyuz missions Spacecraft launched in 2002 Orbital space tourism flights Spacecraft which reentered in 2002 Spacecraft launched by Soyuz-U rockets