Soyuz TMA-10 (original) (raw)

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2007 Russian crewed spaceflight to the ISS

Soyuz TMA-10

Operator Roscosmos
COSPAR ID 2007-008A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no. 31100Edit this on Wikidata
Mission duration 196 days, 17 hours
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type Soyuz-TMA 11F732
Manufacturer Energia
Crew
Crew size 3
Members Oleg V. KotovFyodor Yurchikhin
Launching Charles Simonyi
Landing Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor
Callsign Pulsar
Start of mission
Launch date April 7, 2007, 17:31:09 (2007-04-07UTC17:31:09Z) UTC
Rocket Soyuz-FG
Launch site Baikonur 1/5
End of mission
Landing date October 21, 2007, 10:36 (2007-10-21UTC10:37Z) UTC
Landing site west of Arkalyk
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Low Earth
Docking with ISS
Docking port Zarya nadir
Docking date 9 April 200719:10 UTC
Undocking date 27 September 200720:20 UTC
Time docked 171d 1h 10m
Docking with ISS (Relocation)
Docking port Zvezda aft
Docking date 27 September 200720:47 UTC
Undocking date 21 October 200707:14 UTC
Time docked 23d 10h 27m
From left to right: Charles Simonyi, Oleg Kotov, Fyodor YurchikhinSoyuz programme(Crewed missions)← Soyuz TMA-9Soyuz TMA-11 →

Soyuz TMA-10 was a human spaceflight mission using a Soyuz-TMA spacecraft to transport personnel to and from the International Space Station (ISS). The mission began at 17:31:09 UTC on April 7, 2007 when the spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle. Soyuz TMA-10 brought to the station two members of ISS Expedition 15 crew, along with one spaceflight participant. It remained at the space station as an escape craft until it was replaced by Soyuz TMA-11 in October 2007.

Soyuz TMA-10 spacecraft approaches the International Space Station.

Soyuz TMA-10 docked to the ISS on April 9, 2007 at 22:10 UTC, following two days of free flight. Its two Russian crew members remained on the station until the spacecraft's return to Earth in October 2007. Spaceflight participant Charles Simonyi returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TMA-9 on April 21, following eleven days of ISS handover operations.

TMA-10 undocked from the ISS at 07:14 UTC on October 21, and deorbit occurred at 09:47. During atmospheric re-entry, the spacecraft transitioned to a ballistic reentry, resulting in it landing west of Arkalyk, approximately 340 km (210 mi) northwest of the intended Kazakhstan landing site.[2] The trajectory was reported by the crew as soon as they came out of the communications blackout caused by plasma surrounding the spacecraft. (A ballistic trajectory is a backup re-entry mode that takes over if something fails during normal re-entry.) A Commission of Inquiry determined that the ballistic re-entry was caused by damage to a cable in the spacecraft's control panel, which connected to the control panel with the Soyuz descent equipment.[3] Landing occurred at 10:36 GMT.[4] A ballistic trajectory entry had happened previously, with the Soyuz TMA-1 mission that returned Expedition 6.[2] The information about the failure of a connector in service panel was faulty. In actuality, the Service module (PAO) had failed to separate from the re-entry module (SA), and the ship had entered the atmosphere with the opposite orientation. Explosive bolts in connection struts between the Re-entry module and the Service module had failed to explode. The heat had melted the failed struts and the re-entry module had separated from the service module - the changed trajectory of the ship had caused the switch to a ballistic emergency landing. The same situation had happened during the Soyuz 5 mission in 1969. The Soyuz re-entry module was, and still is, protected on all sides with thermal insulation, so the struts melted before the crew entry hatch was damaged or destroyed, thus saving the crew. The Russians kept the failure of the Soyuz TMA-10 a secret until it happened again on the Soyuz TMA-11 with a NASA astronaut on board. This infuriated NASA (the Commission of Inquiry had lied to them)[_citation needed_] and this led to further investigation as well as special EVA activity on the ISS to check the docked Soyuz TMA-12 and its explosive bolts in their connection struts.

  1. ^ "NASA Holds Briefing With First Female Station Commander and Crew". Archived from the original on 2018-10-06. Retrieved 2007-09-07.
  2. ^ a b William Harwood (2007). "Soyuz capsule makes 'ballistic' descent to Earth". CBS News - Spaceflight Now. Retrieved October 21, 2007.
  3. ^ "Soyuz TMA-10 ballistic landing cause determined". 30 January 2008. Retrieved March 31, 2008.
  4. ^ "Soyuz Craft Lands Safely in Kazakhstan". ABC News. Associated Press. 2007. Archived from the original on June 8, 2009. Retrieved October 21, 2007.