Human Spaceflights

International Flight No. 249

Soyuz TMA-10

Pulsar

Russia

Russia
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Launch, orbit and landing data

Launch date:  07.04.2007
Launch time:  17:31:14.194 UTC
Launch site:  Baikonur
Launch pad:  1
Altitude:  341 - 345 km
Inclination:  51.63°
Docking ISS:  09.04.2007, 19:10:44 UTC
Undocking ISS:  21.10.2007, 07:14:17 UTC
Landing date:  21.10.2007
Landing time:  10:35:49 UTC
Landing site:  50°29'01'' N, 62°17'20'' E

walkout photo

Crew Soyuz TMA-10

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alternative crew photo

alternative crew photo

alternative crew photo

alternative crew photo

Crew

No.   Surname Given names Position Flight No. Duration Orbits
1  Kotov  Oleg Valeriyevich  Commander 1 196d 17h 04m 35s  3106 
2  Yurchikhin  Fyodor Nikolayevich  Flight Engineer 2 196d 17h 04m 35s  3106 
3  Simonyi  Charles "Károly"  Spaceflight Participant 1 13d 18h 59m 50s  219 

Crew seating arrangement

Launch
1  Kotov
2  Yurchikhin
3  Simonyi
Soyuz TMA spacecraft
Landing
1  Kotov
2  Yurchikhin
3  Muszaphar Shukor

Backup Crew

No.   Surname Given names Position
1  Romanenko  Roman Yuriyevich  Commander
2  Korniyenko  Mikhail Borisovich  Flight Engineer
Crew Soyuz TMA-10 backup

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Hardware

Launch vehicle:  Soyuz-FG (No. 10M133S Ts15000-019)
Spacecraft:  Soyuz TMA-10 (TMA No. 220)

Flight

Launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome; landing 338 km west of the intended site in Kazakhstan (330 km west of Arkalyk) due of a ballistic descent.

Charles Simonyi was another space tourist. This mission was the ISS Expedition 15. Following a two-day solo flight Soyuz TMA-10 docked with the ISS on April 09, 2007. Oleg Kotov and Fyodor Yurchikhin replaced the Expedition 14 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 261.9 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.

The landing occurred in an unexpected ballistic descent to Earth (for the first time since Soyuz TMA-1). So, the landing was one minute earlier than planned, harder (up to 9 g, normal 4 g) and about 338 kilometers short from the target landing point, but the crew was in good condition and safe.

Note

Charles Simonyi landed on April 21, 2007 at 12:31:04.1 UTC with Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft.

Relocations of Manned Spacecrafts

Spacecraft from Undocking Time UTC to Redocking Time UTC
Soyuz TMA-10 ISS - Zarya 27.09.2007 19:20:14 ISS - Zvezda 27.09.2007 19:47:24
 

Photos / Graphics

Soyuz TMA spacecraft Soyuz TMA landing module
crew in training Soyuz TMA-10 on the way to the pad
Arrival of Soyuz TMA-10 at the ISS Soyuz TMA-10 launch
traditional in-flight photo Soyuz TMA-10 Soyuz TMA-10 recovery

©      

Last update on August 13, 2020.

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