Human Spaceflights

International Flight No. 247

Soyuz TMA-9

Vostok

Russia

Russia
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Launch, orbit and landing data

Launch date:  18.09.2006
Launch time:  04:08:42.133 UTC
Launch site:  Baikonur
Launch pad:  1
Altitude:  323 - 345 km
Inclination:  51.63°
Docking ISS:  20.09.2006, 05:21:20 UTC
Undocking ISS:  21.04.2007, 09:11:39 UTC
Landing date:  21.04.2007
Landing time:  12:31:04.1 UTC
Landing site:  48°26*00" N, 69°13'35" E

walkout photo

Crew Soyuz TMA-9

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original crew photo

alternative crew photo

alternative crew photo

alternative crew photo

Crew

No.   Surname Given names Position Flight No. Duration Orbits
1  Tyurin  Mikhail Vladislavovich  Commander 2 215d 08h 22m 22s  3401 
2  Lopez-Alegria  Michael Eladio "LA"  Flight Engineer 4 215d 08h 22m 22s  3401 
3  Ansari  Anousheh  Spaceflight Participant 1 10d 21h 04m 55s  171 

Crew seating arrangement

Launch
1  Tyurin
2  Lopez-Alegria
3  Ansari
Soyuz TMA spacecraft
Landing
1  Tyurin
2  Lopez-Alegria
3  Simonyi

Backup Crew

No.   Surname Given names Position
1  Malenchenko  Yuri Ivanovich  Commander
2  Whitson  Peggy Annette  Flight Engineer
Crew Soyuz TMA-9 backup

alternative crew photo

original crew photo

Hardware

Launch vehicle:  Soyuz-FG (No. 24M133S Ts15000-023)
Spacecraft:  Soyuz TMA-9 (TMA No. 219)

Flight

Launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and landing 135 km northeast of Dzheskasgan.

The mission carried out the ISS Expedition 14. Originally Daisuke Enomoto was assigned as fourth space tourist, but he was medically grounded on August 21, 2006. He was replaced by his double Anousheh Ansari.

Following a two-day solo flight Soyuz TMA-9 docked with the ISS on September 20, 2006. The crew replaced the Expedition 13 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 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

Anousheh Ansari landed on September 29, 2006 at 01:13:37.3 UTC with Soyuz TMA-8 spacecraft.

Relocations of Manned Spacecrafts

Spacecraft from Undocking Time UTC to Redocking Time UTC
Soyuz TMA-9 ISS - Zvezda 10.10.2006 19:13:54 ISS - Zarya 10.10.2006 19:34:04
Soyuz TMA-9 ISS - Zarya 29.03.2007 22:30:09 ISS - Zvezda 29.03.2007 22:54:40
 

Photos / Graphics

Soyuz TMA spacecraft Soyuz TMA landing module
crew in training Soyuz TMA-9 rollout
Soyuz TMA-9 launch Arrival of Soyuz TMA-9 at the ISS
traditional in-flight photo Soyuz TMA-9 Soyuz TMA-9 landing
Soyuz TMA-9 recovery  

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Last update on March 29, 2020.

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