Soyuz TMA-16
| Mission type | ISS crew rotation |
|---|---|
| Operator | Roskosmos |
| COSPAR ID | 2009-053A |
| SATCAT no. | 35940 |
| Mission duration | 168 days |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Soyuz No.226 |
| Spacecraft type | Soyuz-TMA 11F732 |
| Manufacturer | RKK Energia |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 3 up 2 down |
| Members |
Maksim Surayev Jeffrey Williams |
| Launching | Guy Laliberté |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | September 30, 2009, 07:14:45 UTC |
| Rocket | Soyuz-FG |
| Launch site | Baikonur 1/5 |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | March 18, 2010, 11:24 UTC |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Perigee | 340 kilometres (210 mi) |
| Apogee | 351 kilometres (218 mi) |
| Inclination | 51.6 degrees |
| Period | 91.44 minutes |
| Epoch | October 7, 2009 |
| Docking with ISS | |
|
 From left to right: Laliberté, Williams and Surayev
Soyuz programme
(Manned missions) |
|
The Soyuz TMA-16 (Russian: Союз TMA-16) was a manned flight to and from the International Space Station (ISS). It transported two members of the Expedition 21 crew and a Canadian entrepreneur from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the ISS. TMA-16 was the 103rd flight of a Soyuz spacecraft, the first flight launching in 1967. The launch of Soyuz TMA-16 marked the first time since 1969 that three Soyuz craft were in orbit simultaneously.
Guy Laliberté, founder and CEO of Cirque du Soleil, was a spaceflight participant aboard TMA-16 during its flight to the ISS, paying approximately US$35 million for his seat through the American firm Space Adventures. He returned on board the Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft left as an emergency vehicle during that previous flight. The Soyuz TMA-16 flight spacecraft flew back to Earth with only two crewmembers.
Soyuz TMA-16 was docked to the ISS at the aft port of the Zvezda module. On January 21, 2010, cosmonaut Suraev and Expedition 22 Commander Jeffrey Williams relocated the spacecraft to the zenith-facing port of the Poisk module. The Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft undocked from the aft end of the Zvezda service module at 5:03 a.m. EST and backed away to a distance of about 100 feet from the space station. Undocking occurred as the station flew about 213 miles high off the southwest coast of Africa. Re-docking occurred at 5:24 a.m. EST after Suraev fired the Soyuz maneuvering thrusters to fly halfway around the orbiting space station and line up with the Poisk module.
...
Wikipedia