Human Spaceflights

International Flight No. 311

Soyuz MS-08

Hawaii

Russia

Russia
Patch Soyuz MS-08 Patch Soyuz MS-08 (design by Arnold's daughter)

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Patch Soyuz MS-08

Launch, orbit and landing data

Launch date:  21.03.2018
Launch time:  17:44:23.396 UTC
Launch site:  Baikonur
Launch pad:  1
Altitude:  403 - 409 km
Inclination:  51.6°
Docking ISS:  23.03.2018, 19:40:19 UTC
Undocking ISS:  04.10.2018, 07:57:32 UTC
Landing date:  04.10.2018
Landing time:  11:44:38.3 UTC
Landing site:  47°19'20.58" 'N, 69°36'27.36" E

walkout photo

Crew Soyuz MS-08

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alternative crew photo

alternative crew photo

alternative crew photo

alternative crew photo

alternative crew photo

alternative crew photo

Crew

No.   Surname Given names Position Flight No. Duration Orbits
1  Artemyev  Oleg Germanovich  Commander 2 196d 18h 00m 15s  3152 
2  Feustel  Andrew Jay "Drew"  Flight Engineer 3 196d 18h 00m 15s  3152 
3  Arnold  Richard Robert II "Ricky"  Flight Engineer 2 196d 18h 00m 15s  3152 

Crew seating arrangement

Launch
1  Artemyev
2  Feustel
3  Arnold
Soyuz MS spacecraft
Landing
1  Artemyev
2  Feustel
3  Arnold

Backup Crew

No.   Surname Given names Position
1  Ovchinin  Aleksei Nikolaevich  Commander
2  Hague  Tyler Nicklaus "Nick"  Flight Engineer
Crew Soyuz MS-08 backup

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alternative crew photo

Hardware

Launch vehicle:  Soyuz-FG (No. 3M139S N15000-066)
Spacecraft:  Soyuz MS-08 (MS No. 738)

Flight

Launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. ISS Expedition 55 / 56. Landing 152 km southeast of Dzheskasgan.

Following a two-day solo flight Soyuz MS-08 docked to ISS on March 23, 2018. Oleg Artemyev, Andrew Feustel and Richard Arnold became the ISS Expedition 55 (together with ISS Expedition 54 crew members Anton Shkaplerov, Scott Tingle and Norishige Kanai). With the arrival Expedition 55 became a six-person-crew.

The Soyuz spacecraft is composed of three elements attached end-to-end - the Orbital Module, the Descent Module and the Instrumentation/Propulsion Module. The crew occupied the central element, the Descent Module. The other two modules are jettisoned prior to re-entry. They burn up in the atmosphere, so only the Descent Module returned to Earth.
The deorbit burn lasted 279 seconds. Having shed two-thirds of its mass, the Soyuz reached Entry Interface - a point 400,000 feet (121.9 kilometers) above the Earth, where friction due to the thickening atmosphere began to heat its outer surfaces. With only 23 minutes left before it lands on the grassy plains of central Asia, attention in the module turned to slowing its rate of descent.
Eight minutes later, the spacecraft was streaking through the sky at a rate of 755 feet (230 meters) per second. Before it touched down, its speed slowed to only 5 feet (1.5 meter) per second, and it lands at an even lower speed than that. Several onboard features ensure that the vehicle and crew land safely and in relative comfort.
Four parachutes, deployed 15 minutes before landing, dramatically slowed the vehicle's rate of descent. Two pilot parachutes were the first to be released, and a drogue chute attached to the second one followed immediately after. The drogue, measuring 24 square meters (258 square feet) in area, slowed the rate of descent from 755 feet (230 meters) per second to 262 feet (80 meters) per second.
The main parachute was the last to emerge. It is the largest chute, with a surface area of 10,764 square feet (1,000 square meters). Its harnesses shifted the vehicle's attitude to a 30-degree angle relative to the ground, dissipating heat, and then shifted it again to a straight vertical descent prior to landing.
The main chute slowed the Soyuz to a descent rate of only 24 feet (7.3 meters) per second, which is still too fast for a comfortable landing. One second before touchdown, two sets of three small engines on the bottom of the vehicle fired, slowing the vehicle to soften the landing.

Graphics / Photos

Soyuz MS Soyuz MS
Soyuz MS crew in training
crew in training Soyuz MS-08 integration
Soyuz MS-08 rollout Soyuz MS-08 erection
Soyuz MS-08 on the launch pad Soyuz MS-08 launch
Soyuz MS-08 landing Soyuz MS-08 landing
Soyuz MS-08_recovery Soyuz MS-08_recovery

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Last update on March 29, 2020.

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