Soyuz TMA-04M departs the ISS
|
|
Operator | Roskosmos |
---|---|
COSPAR ID | 2012-022A |
SATCAT no. | 38291 |
Mission duration | 4 months, 2 days |
Orbits completed | ~1,945 |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft type | Soyuz-TMA 11F747 |
Manufacturer | RKK Energia |
Crew | |
Crew size | 3 |
Members |
Gennady Padalka Sergei Revin Joseph M. Acaba |
Callsign | Altair |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 15 May 2012, 03:01:23 | UTC
Rocket | Soyuz-FG |
Launch site | Baikonur 1/5 |
End of mission | |
Landing date | 17 September 2012, 02:53 | UTC
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric |
Regime | Low Earth |
Perigee | 410 kilometres (250 mi) |
Apogee | 433 kilometres (269 mi) |
Inclination | 51.64 degrees |
Period | 92.86 minutes |
Epoch | 17 September 2012, 01:22:43 UTC |
Docking with ISS | |
Docking port | Poisk zenith |
Docking date | 17 May 2012, 04:36 UTC |
Undocking date | 16 September 2012, 23:09 UTC |
Time docked | 4 months |
(l-r) Acaba, Padalka and Revin
Soyuz programme
(Manned missions) |
Soyuz TMA-04M was a spaceflight to Low Earth orbit that transported three members of the Expedition 31 crew to the International Space Station (ISS), which was launched on 15 May 2012 and landed on 17 September 2012. TMA-04M was the Soyuz spacecraft's 113th flight since its initial launch in 1967, and the fourth launch of the improved Soyuz TMA-M 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 in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, 15 May 2012, at 3:01:23 UTC (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, Russia; Sergei Revin, Russia; Joseph Acaba, United States). The mission landed successfully in Kazakhstan on 17 September 2012, at 2:53 UTC.
Soyuz TMA-04M was the fourth mission using the upgraded Soyuz TMA-M 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.