Soyuz TMA-7

Soyuz TMA-7 (Russian: Союз ТМА-7) was a transport mission for portions of the International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 12 crew launched October 1, 2005. The flight delivered ISS Commander William McArthur and ISS Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev to the station to replace Expedition 11 crew members. Spaceflight Participant Gregory Olsen joined the TMA-7 crew for the ascent and docking with the ISS, spent approximately eight days aboard conducting experiments, then returned to Earth with the outgoing members of Expedition 11 aboard Soyuz TMA-6. McArthur and Tokarev were joined on their return trip to Earth by Flight Engineer Marcos Pontes who launched aboard Soyuz TMA-8 and spent approximately seven days aboard the ISS conducting experiments for the Brazilian Space Agency.

Soyuz TMA-7 seen from the ISS.
Soyuz TMA-7
OperatorRoskosmos
COSPAR ID2005-039A
SATCAT no.28877
Mission duration189 days, 19 hours, 53 minutes
Orbits completed2,987
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft typeSoyuz-TMA 11F732
ManufacturerRKK Energia
Launch mass7,200 kilograms (15,900 lb)
Crew
Crew size3
MembersValery I. Tokarev
William S. McArthur, Jr.
LaunchingGregory H. "Greg" Olsen
LandingMarcos C. Pontes
Start of mission
Launch dateOctober 1, 2005, 03:55:00 (2005-10-01UTC03:55Z) UTC
RocketSoyuz-FG
Launch siteBaikonur 1/5
End of mission
Landing dateApril 8, 2006, 23:48:00 (2006-04-08UTC23:49Z) UTC
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth
Perigee altitude~200 kilometres (120 mi)
Apogee altitude~252 kilometres (157 mi)
Inclination~51.7 degrees
Period~88.7 minutes
Docking with ISS
Docking portPirs nadir
Docking date3 October 2005
05:27 UTC
Undocking date18 November 2005
08:46 UTC
Time docked46d 3h 19m
Docking with ISS
(Relocation)
Docking portZarya nadir
Docking date18 November 2005
09:05 UTC
Undocking date20 March 2006
06:49 UTC
Time docked121d 21h 44m
Docking with ISS
(Relocation)
Docking portZvezda aft
Docking date20 March 2006
07:11 UTC
Undocking date8 April 2006
20:28 UTC
Time docked19d 13h 17m
Soyuz programme
(Crewed missions)
 

Crew
Position Launching crew Landing crew
Commander Valery Tokarev, RKA[1]
Expedition 12
Second and last spaceflight
Flight Engineer William McArthur, NASA[1]
Expedition 12
Fourth and last spaceflight
Spaceflight Participant Gregory Olsen, SA[1]
Only spaceflight
Space Tourist		 Marcos Pontes, AEB
Only spaceflight

Docking with ISS
  • Docked to ISS: October 3, 2005, 05:27 UTC (to Pirs module)
  • Undocked from ISS: November 18, 2005, 08:46 UTC (from Pirs module)
  • Docked to ISS: November 18, 2005, 09:05 UTC (to nadir port of Zarya)
  • Undocked from ISS: March 20, 2006, 06:49 UTC (from nadir port of Zarya)
  • Docked to ISS: March 20, 2006, 07:11 UTC (to aft port of Zvezda)
  • Undocked from ISS: April 8, 2006, 20:28 UTC (from aft port of Zvezda)

Mission highlights

28th crewed flight to ISS (Flight 11S).

Soyuz TMA-7 is a Soyuz spacecraft which has been launched on October 1, 2005 by a Soyuz-FG rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Soyuz TMA-7 approaches the International Space Station.

The spacecraft carried two members of the Expedition 12 crew to the International Space Station, together with the space tourist Gregory Olsen. They replaced the Expedition 11 crew, Commander Sergei Krikalev and John Phillips.

The last member of the original Expedition 12 crew, Thomas Reiter finally launched in July 2006 on STS-121. Owing to shuttle mechanical and weather delays, he was forced to move to Expedition 13.

This was the last flight which is covered by the 1996 "balance" agreement that required the Russians to provide 11 Soyuz spacecraft to ferry joint U.S-Russian crews to and from the International Space Station. Further Soyuz flights needed a renegotiation between NASA and its Russian counterpart, and a modification of the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000.

See also

References
  1. "OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE about the return of the ISS-11 and VC-9 crews to the Earth". NPO Energia. October 11, 2005. Retrieved December 17, 2008.
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