Human Spaceflights

International Flight No. 290

Soyuz TMA-09M

Olympus

Russia

Russia
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Launch, orbit and landing data

Launch date:  28.05.2013
Launch time:  20:31:24.262 UTC
Launch site:  Baikonur
Launch pad:  1
Altitude:  417 - 419 km
Inclination:  51.65°
Docking ISS:  29.05.2013, 02:10:24 UTC
Undocking ISS:  10.11.2013, 23:26:31 UTC
Landing date:  11.11.2013
Landing time:  02:49:00.1 UTC
Landing site:  47°18'54.599" N, 69°27'34.788" E

walkout photo

Crew Soyuz TMA-09M

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Crew

No.   Surname Given names Position Flight No. Duration Orbits
1  Yurchikhin  Fyodor Nikolayevich  Commander 4 166d 06h 17m 36s  2581 
2  Parmitano  Luca Salvo  Flight Engineer 1 166d 06h 17m 36s  2581 
3  Nyberg  Karen Lujean  Flight Engineer 2 166d 06h 17m 36s  2581 

Crew seating arrangement

Launch
1  Yurchikhin
2  Parmitano
3  Nyberg
Soyuz TMA spacecraft
Landing
1  Yurchikhin
2  Parmitano
3  Nyberg

Backup Crew

No.   Surname Given names Position
1  Tyurin  Mikhail Vladislavovich  Commander
2  Mastracchio  Richard Alan "Rick"  Flight Engineer
3  Wakata  Koichi  Flight Engineer
Crew Soyuz TMA-09M backup
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Hardware

Launch vehicle:  Soyuz-FG (No. 12M135S Ye15000-045)
Spacecraft:  Soyuz TMA-09M (TMA-M No. 709)

Flight

Launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Landing 142 km southeast of Dzheskasgan. ISS Expedition 36 / 37.

Following an only six-hours solo flight Soyuz TMA-09M docked to ISS on May 29, 2013. Fyodor Yurchikhin, Luca Parmitano and Karen Nyberg became the ISS Expedition 36 (together with ISS Expedition 35 crew members Pavel Vinogradov, Aleksandr Misurkin and Christopher Cassidy).

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 285 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.

Relocations of Manned Spacecrafts

Spacecraft from Undocking Time UTC to Redocking Time UTC
Soyuz TMA-09M ISS - Rassvet 01.11.2013 08:33:25 ISS - Zvezda 01.11.2013 08:54:27
 

Graphics / Photos

Soyuz TMA spacecraft Soyuz TMA landing module
crew in training crew in training
Soyuz TMA-09M integration Soyuz TMA-09M rollout
Soyuz TMA-09M erection Soyuz TMA-09M on the launch pad
Soyuz TMA-09M launch Soyuz TMA-09M landing
Soyuz TMA-09M recovery  

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Last update on March 29, 2020.

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