Soyuz TMA-06M
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Soyuz TMA-06M was a spaceflight 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 ...
launched on 23 October 2012, transporting three members of the Expedition 33 crew. TMA-06M was the 115th flight of a
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 ...
, the first flight launching in 1967. Soyuz TMA-06M launch was also the first crewed flight from the remote Site 31 pad since July 1984. The Soyuz remained on board the space station for the Expedition 33 increment to serve as an emergency escape vehicle. Soyuz TMA-06M successfully returned to Earth on 15 March 2013.


Crew


Backup crew


Rollout

On 21 October 2012, the
Soyuz-FG The Soyuz-FG was an improved variant of the Soyuz-U launch vehicle from the R-7 (rocket family), R-7 rocket family, developed by the Progress Rocket Space Centre in Samara, Russia. It featured upgraded first and second stage engines, RD-107A and ...
rocket booster with Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft was rolled out by train and erected on pad 6 at Site 31, also referred to as the '' Tereshkova'' pad. Launch pad 31/6 was used for this mission since the usual launch pad for crewed flights – pad 5 at Site 1 was undergoing maintenance and upgrades. Also on the launch day, the crew's trip to the 31/6 Launch Pad took about one hour and 10 minutes – 50 minutes longer than the drive to the 1/5 Launch Pad.


Launch

Soyuz TMA-06M was launched atop of a Soyuz-FG rocket at 10:51:11 GMT on 23 October 2012 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in
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 ...
. The launch of TMA-06M from Baikonur's Site 31 was the first human liftoff from that launch pad since July 1984 when
Soyuz T-12 Soyuz T-12 (also known as Salyut 7 EP-4) was the seventh crewed spaceflight to the Soviet space station Salyut 7. The name "Soyuz T-12" is also the name of the spacecraft used to launch and land the mission's three-person crew. The mission occurr ...
was sent to the
Salyut 7 Salyut 7 (), also known as DOS-6 (Durable Orbital Station 6) was a space station in low Earth orbit from April 1982 to February 1991. It was first crewed in May 1982 with two crew via Soyuz T-5, and last visited in June 1986, by Soyuz T-15. Va ...
space station. Following the flawless launch, the Soyuz spacecraft successfully achieved orbital insertion 9 minutes later and began its 34-orbit journey to the International Space Station. Live television from inside the Soyuz TMA-06M command module showed commander Oleg Novitskiy monitoring the automated ascent from the center seat. Seated on the left and right to him was flight engineer Evgeny Tarelkin and NASA astronaut Kevin Ford, respectively. Shortly after the launch, one of the cosmonauts reported an alarm of some nature, but flight controllers later said there were no obvious problems.


Docking

In order to set up the Rendezvous Operations, the Soyuz spacecraft performed three orbital adjustments to increase its altitude. The first two of these burns was completed on the launch day with the first conducted just 4.5 hours after the launch. The third burn was conducted on Flight Day 2. Aboard the Space Station, the crew also took final preparations for the docking and cameras aboard the Station were configured to record the next day's docking. On the docking day, the Automated Rendezvous Sequence that was initiated at 10:11 UTC. After three minutes, the Space Station also conducted a maneuver to the proper Docking Attitude and the Soyuz crew activated the KURS Navigation System that provides accurate Range and Velocity Data for the spacecraft's on-board computers. When arriving at a distance of 300 meters, Mission Controllers in Korolev, Russia gave a GO for the Flyaround. After the Flyaround was completed, station-keeping operations began at a distance of 190 meters from the Space Station. This period was used by the Mission Controllers to verify all systems and alignment with the Space Station. Station-keeping was shortened as all system checked out well and the green light was issued for the final approach. Soyuz TMA-06M docked with the ISS at 12:29 GMT on 25 October 2012, about six minutes earlier than planned. The spacecraft docked at the MRM-2 ''Poisk'' module, while Soyuz TMA-06M and the ISS were flying as the space station flew above southern
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
. The crew performed the standard one-hour leak check operation before getting started with hatch opening procedures. After leak checks and system checks were completed, the crew opened the hatches and entered the Space Station at around 15:15 GMT. They were greeted by Expedition 33 crewmembers
Sunita Williams Sunita Lyn "Suni" Williams ( Pandya; born September 19, 1965) is an American astronaut and a retired U.S. Navy officer. Williams served aboard the International Space Station as a participant in Expedition 14, a flight engineer for Expedition ...
,
Yuri Malenchenko Yuri Ivanovich Malenchenko (; born December 22, 1961) is a retired Russian cosmonaut. Malenchenko became the first person to marry in space, on 10 August 2003, when he married Ekaterina Dmitrieva, who was in Texas, while he was over New Zealan ...
and
Akihiko Hoshide is a Japanese engineer, JAXA The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology developm ...
.


Return to Earth

Soyuz TMA-06M undocked from the ISS on 15 March 2013 at 11:43 PM (GMT), carrying Novitsky, Tarelkin, and Ford, and landed safely at 3:06:30 AM (GMT) the following day. The landing was north of the town of
Arkalyk Arkalyk or Arqalyq (, ', ; ) is a city in Kostanay Region, northern Kazakhstan. Earlier, it was the centre of Torgay Region, which was abolished in 1997. Established in 1956, it acquired the status of the city in 1965. The distance from the town ...
.


Medaka fish

Soyuz TMA-06M carried 32 Medaka fish that will be used to test how conditions in space impact on living organisms. The fish will live inside a fish tank, called the Aquatic Habitat (AQH) in the Japanese Kibo Lab Module, which was delivered to the space station by JAXA's
Kounotori 3 Kounotori 3 (; English: "white stork" ), also known as HTV-3, was the third flight of the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle. It was launched on 21 July 2012 to resupply the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the H-IIB Launch Vehicle No. 3 ...
spacecraft in July 2012.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soyuz TMA-M06 Crewed Soyuz missions Spacecraft launched in 2012 Spacecraft which reentered in 2013 Spacecraft launched by Soyuz-FG rockets