Human Spaceflights

International Flight No. 314

Soyuz MS-12

Burlak

Russia

Russia
Patch Soyuz MS-12 Patch Soyuz MS-12 (landing version)

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Patch Soyuz MS-12

Launch, orbit and landing data

Launch date:  14.03.2019
Launch time:  19:14:08.175 UTC
Launch site:  Baikonur
Launch pad:  1
Altitude:  412 - 422 km
Inclination:  51.64°
Docking ISS:  15.03.2019, 01:01:39 UTC
Undocking ISS:  03.10.2019, 07:37:32 UTC
Landing date:  03.10.2019
Landing time:  10:59:21.4 UTC
Landing site:  47°24'04.44" N, 69°34'14.1" E

walkout photo

Crew Soyuz MS-12

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alternative crew photo

original 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  Ovchinin  Aleksei Nikolaevich  Commander 2 202d 15h 45m 13s  3248 
2  Hague  Tyler Nicklaus "Nick"  Flight Engineer 1 202d 15h 45m 13s  3248 
3  Koch  Christina Hammock "Nana"  Flight Engineer 1 328d 13h 58m 13s  5248 

Crew seating arrangement

Launch
1  Ovchinin
2  Hague
3  Koch
Soyuz MS spacecraft
Landing
1  Ovchinin
2  Hague
3  Al Mansoori

Backup Crew

No.   Surname Given names Position
1  Skvortsov  Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Jr.  Commander
2 Italy  Parmitano  Luca Salvo  Flight Engineer
3  Morgan  Andrew Richard  Flight Engineer
Crew Soyuz MS-12 backup
Patch Soyuz MS-12 backup crew

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original backup crew

original backup crew

alternative crew photo

Hardware

Launch vehicle:  Soyuz-FG (No. Ya15000-070)
Spacecraft:  Soyuz MS-12 (MS No. 742)

Flight

Launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. ISS Expedition 59 / 60. Landing 146 km southeast of Dzheskasgan.

Hazzaa Al Mansoori from United Arab Emirates was scheduled to launch with Soyuz MS-12 and land a few days later with Soyuz MS-10. Due to the abort with contingency landing of Soyuz MS-10 his flight was cancelled. He and his backup Sultan Al Neyadi were planned to fly as Spaceflight Participant (UKP).

Following an only six-hours solo flight Soyuz MS-12 docked to ISS on March 15, 2019. Aleksei Ovchinin, Nicklaus Hague and Christina Koch became the ISS Expedition 59 (together with ISS Expedition 58 crew members Oleg Kononenko, David Saint-Jacques and Anne McClain). With the arrival Expedition 57 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 282 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.

Note

Christina Koch landed on February 06, 2020 at 09:12:21 UTC with Soyuz MS-13.

Graphics / Photos

Soyuz MS Soyuz MS
Soyuz MS crew in training
crew in training crew in training
Soyuz MS-12 integration Soyuz MS-12 rollout
Soyuz MS-12 erection Soyuz MS-12 on the launch pad
Soyuz MS-12 launch Soyuz MS-12 landing
Soyuz MS-12 recovery

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Last update on March 29, 2020.

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