Soyuz TMA-04M was a spaceflight to

Low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an geocentric orbit, orbit around Earth with a orbital period, period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an orbital eccentricity, eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial object ...

that transported three members of the Expedition 31 crew 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), which was launched on 15 May 2012 and landed on 17 September 2012. TMA-04M was the

Soyuz spacecraft Soyuz () is a series of spacecraft which has been in service since the 1960s, having made more than 140 flights. It was designed for the Soviet space program by the Korolev Design Bureau (now Energia). The Soyuz succeeded the Voskhod spacecraf ...

's 113th flight since its initial launch in 1967, and the fourth launch of the improved

Soyuz TMA-M The Soyuz TMA-M was a spacecraft developed by Energia (corporation), Energia and operated by Roscosmos for human spaceflight. Introduced in 2010, it was a revision of the Soyuz spacecraft with upgrades over its predecessor, the Soyuz T ...

series (first launched 7 October 2010). As per the mission plan, the spacecraft remained docked to the space station to serve as an emergency escape vehicle during Expedition 31. The mission was successfully launched to the International Space Station from the

Baikonur Cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome is a spaceport operated by Russia within Kazakhstan. Located in the Kazakh city of Baikonur, it is the largest operational space launch facility in terms of area. All Russian Human spaceflight, crewed spaceflights are l ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

on Tuesday, 15 May 2012, at 3:01:23

UTC Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...

(9:01:23 local time). The Soyuz docked successfully with the ISS on 17 May at 4:36 UTC. The spacecraft carried to the ISS a three-person crew (

Gennady Padalka Gennady Ivanovich Padalka (; born 21 June 1958 in Krasnodar, Soviet Union) is a Russian Air Force officer and Roscosmos cosmonaut. Padalka is the only person to have served as commander of the International Space Station (ISS) four times. He previ ...

, Russia; Sergei Revin, Russia;

Joseph Acaba Joseph Michael Acabá (born May 17, 1967) is an American educator, hydrogeologist, and NASA astronaut. In May 2004, he became the first person of Puerto Rican ancestry to be named as a NASA astronaut candidate, when he was selected as a member ...

, United States). The mission landed successfully in Kazakhstan on 17 September 2012, at 2:53 UTC.

Crew

Backup crew

Spacecraft

Soyuz TMA-04M was the fourth mission using the upgraded

spacecraft, which has a modernised flight control system and a reduced mass. The spacecraft was designed and manufactured by S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia, the largest company of the Russian space industry.Soyuz TMA-M manned transport vehicle of a new series
Energia Corporation

Mission highlights

Soyuz TMA-04M was successfully launched to the International Space Station from the

on Tuesday, 15 May 2012, at 3:01:23 UTC (9:01:23 local Baikonur time). The spacecraft docked with the International Space Station on Thursday, 17 May at 4:36 UTC, linking to the ''Poisk'' docking module. After the departure of

Soyuz TMA-03M Soyuz TMA-03M was a spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS). It launched on 21 December 2011 from Site One at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, carrying three members of Expedition 30 to the ISS. TMA-03M was the 112th flight of ...

on 1 June the crew members of TMA-04M conducted the first portion of Expedition 32 until the commencement of the second portion with the arrival of the remaining crew members aboard Soyuz TMA-05M in mid-July. The spacecraft undocked from the ISS at 23:09 UTC on 16 September and landed at 2:53 UTC on September 17 in Kazakhstan.

Gallery

File:Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft integration facility 3.jpg, The Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft during pre-launch processing on 8 May 2012. File:Expedition 31 crew wave goodbye.jpg, The TMA-04M crew wave to spectators before launch on May 15, 2012. File:Expedition 31 Soyuz launch.jpg, The Soyuz TMA-04M mission lifts-off to the ISS on 15 May 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soyuz TMA-M04 Crewed Soyuz missions Spacecraft launched in 2012 Spacecraft which reentered in 2012 Spacecraft launched by Soyuz-FG rockets