Soyuz TMA-9

Soyuz TMA-9 was a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station (ISS) launched by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle. It was a human spaceflight mission transporting personnel to and from the ISS. It launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 18 September 2006 at 08:09 MSD (04:09 UTC), docked with the ISS at 09:21 MSD (05:21 UTC) on 20 September, and returned to Earth on 21 April 2007. Soyuz TMA-9 transported two-thirds of ISS Expedition 14 to the space station along with one "spaceflight participant" who performed several experiments on behalf of the European Space Agency. [2]

Soyuz TMA-9
OperatorRoskosmos
COSPAR ID2006-040A
SATCAT no.29400
Mission duration215 days, 8 hours, 22 minutes
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft typeSoyuz-TMA 11F732
ManufacturerRKK Energia
Launch mass7,270 kilograms (16,030 lb)
Crew
Crew size3
MembersMikhail Tyurin
Michael López-Alegría
LaunchingAnousheh Ansari
LandingCharles Simonyi
CallsignVostok
Start of mission
Launch date18 September 2006, 04:08 (2006-09-18UTC04:08Z) UTC
RocketSoyuz-FG
Launch siteBaikonur 1/5
End of mission
Landing date21 April 2007, 12:31 (2007-04-21UTC12:32Z) UTC
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth
Perigee altitude200 kilometres (120 mi)
Apogee altitude242 kilometres (150 mi)
Inclination51.67 degrees
Period88.64 minutes[1]
Docking with ISS
Docking portZvezda aft
Docking date20 September 2006
05:21 UTC
Undocking date10 October 2006
19:14 UTC
Time docked20d 13h 53m
Docking with ISS
(Relocation)
Docking portZarya nadir
Docking date10 October 2006
19:34 UTC
Undocking date29 March 2007
23:30 UTC
Time docked170d 3h 56m
Docking with ISS
(Relocation)
Docking portZvezda aft
Docking date29 March 2007
23:54 UTC
Undocking date21 April 2007
09:11 UTC
Time docked22d 9h 17m

Crew of Soyuz TMA-9: (l-r) López-Alegría, Ansari, Tyurin
Soyuz programme
(Crewed missions)
 
Soyuz TMA-9 launch.

Crew
Position Launching crew Landing crew
Commander Mikhail Tyurin, RKA
Expedition 14
Second spaceflight
Flight Engineer Michael López-Alegría, NASA
Expedition 14
Fourth spaceflight
Spaceflight Participant / Anousheh Ansari, SA
Only spaceflight
Tourist		 / Charles Simonyi, SA
First spaceflight
Tourist

Crew notes

Daisuke Enomoto was originally scheduled to be the spaceflight participant, but on 21 August 2006, he was determined to be unfit for the flight due to medical reasons, and replaced by Anousheh Ansari, his back-up crew member.

Docking with ISS
The docked Expedition 13 / Soyuz TMA-9 (foreground) and Progress 22 resupply vehicle are featured in this image photographed by an STS-116 crewmember from a window on the International Space Station while Space Shuttle Discovery was docked with the station in December 2006. The blackness of space and Earth's horizon provide the backdrop for the scene.
  • Docked to ISS: 20 September 2006, 05:21 UTC (to aft port of Zvezda)
  • Undocking from ISS: 10 October 2006 19:14 UTC (from aft port of Zvezda)
  • Docking to ISS: 10 October 2006 19:34 UTC (to nadir port of Zarya)
  • Undocking from ISS: 29 March 2007 23:30 UTC (from nadir port of Zarya)
  • Docking to ISS: 29 March 2007 23:54 UTC (to aft port of Zvezda)
  • Undocking from ISS: 21 April 2007 09:11 UTC (from aft port of Zvezda)

Mission highlights

Soyuz TMA-9, known within the International Space Station program as ISS Soyuz 13, was the 32nd crewed flight to the ISS. It is of note because for three days, from 18–21 September 2006, it marked the first time since before the Columbia accident that twelve humans have been in space simultaneously; three aboard the International Space Station (Expedition 13), three aboard Soyuz TMA-9, and six aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis, flying mission STS-115.

The capsule successfully launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a Soyuz-FG rocket at 09:08 MDS (04:08 UTC) on Monday 18 September 2006.[3] It successfully docked with the ISS on Wednesday 20 September to begin a six-month stay on the orbiting laboratory.

Anousheh Ansari, the Spaceflight Participant launched by TMA-9, has returned to Earth safely alongside Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer Jeffrey Williams of the Expedition 13 crew aboard Soyuz TMA-8 on 29 September 2006 at 01:13 UTC. Undocking from the ISS took place at 21:53 UTC on 28 September. López-Alegría and Tyurin undocked from ISS on 21 April 2007, 09:11 UTC, and landed at 12:31:30 UTC, after a seven-month stay on the station.

When the capsule landed after 215 days in space, exceeding the 210-day warranty for Soyuz TMA spacecraft, it concluded the longest flight by a Soyuz spacecraft.

References
  1. "Soyuz TMA-9 Launch". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved 2006-09-23.
  2. "ESA experiments with spaceflight participant Ansari to ISS". Retrieved 2006-09-22.
  3. "Soyuz TMA-9 - NSSDC ID: 2006-040A". National Space Science Data Center.
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