Human Spaceflights

International Flight No. 298

Soyuz TMA-16M

Altair

Russia

Russia
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Launch, orbit and landing data

Launch date:  27.03.2015
Launch time:  19:42:57.549 UTC
Launch site:  Baikonur
Launch pad:  1
Altitude:  396 - 406 km
Inclination:  51.65°
Docking ISS:  28.03.2015, 01:33:37 UTC
Undocking ISS:  11.09.2015, 21:29:10 UTC
Landing date:  12.09.2015
Landing time:  00:51:30.1 UTC
Landing site:  47°21'47.64" N, 69°38'37.62" E

walkout photo

Crew Soyuz TMA-16M

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Crew

No.   Surname Given names Position Flight No. Duration Orbits
1  Padalka  Gennadi Ivanovich  Commander 5 168d 05h 08m 34s 2619 
2  Korniyenko  Mikhail Borisovich  Flight Engineer 2 340d 08h 42m 54s 5356 
3  Kelly  Scott Joseph  Flight Engineer 4 340d 08h 42m 54s 5356 

Crew seating arrangement

Launch
1  Padalka
2  Korniyenko
3  Kelly
Soyuz TMA spacecraft
Landing
1  Padalka
2  Mogensen
3  Aimbetov

Backup Crew

No.   Surname Given names Position
1  Ovchinin  Aleksei Nikolaevich  Commander
2  Volkov  Sergei Aleksandrovich  Flight Engineer
3  Williams  Jeffrey Nels  Flight Engineer
Crew Soyuz TMA-16M backup
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Hardware

Launch vehicle:  Soyuz-FG (No. 19M136S G15000-053)
Spacecraft:  Soyuz TMA-16M (TMA-M No. 716)

Flight

Launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. ISS Expedition 43 / 44 and 45 (for Scott Kelly / Mikhail Korniyenko. Landing 153 km southeast of Dzheskasgan.

Following an only six-hours solo flight Soyuz TMA-16M docked to ISS on March 28, 2015. Gennadi Padalka, Mikhail Korniyenko and Scott Kelly became the ISS Expedition 43 (together with ISS Expedition 42 crew members Anton Shkaplerov, Samantha Cristoforetti and Terry Virts).

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

Mikhail Korniyenko and Scott Kelly landed on March 02, 2016 at 04:25:50.5 UTC with Soyuz TMA-18M.

Relocations of Manned Spacecrafts

Spacecraft from Undocking Time UTC to Redocking Time UTC
Soyuz TMA-16M ISS - Poisk 28.08.2015 07:12:36 ISS - Zvezda 28.08.2015 07:30:17
 

Graphics / Photos

Soyuz TMA spacecraft Soyuz TMA landing module
crew in training Soyuz TMA-16M integration
Soyuz TMA-16M integration Soyuz TMA-16M rollout
Soyuz TMA-16M rollout Soyuz TMA-16M on the launch pad
Soyuz TMA-16M pre-launch Soyuz TMA-16M launch
Soyuz TMA-16M launch Soyuz TMA-16M landing
Soyuz TMA-16M landing Soyuz TMA-16M recovery
Soyuz TMA-16M landing

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Last update on August 13, 2020.

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