Soyuz MS-04

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  42682 / 17020A Launch date - time  20 Apr 2017 - 07:13:43 UT Launch site  Baikonur, LC1/5 Launch vehicle Soyuz-FG (#735) Soyuz designation 11F732A48 nº735 Mass (kg)   kg Docking date - time  20 Apr 2017 - 13:18 UT Target spacecraft/port  ISS/Poisk module Earth orbit on :    - Perigee / Apogee  399 x 409 km    - Eccentricity      - Inclination  51.6°    - Period   min Undocking date - time  02 Sep 2017 - 21:58:01 UT Deorbit burn date - time   Landing date - time  03 Sep 2017 - 01:21:43 UT Landing location  17°22'46,86" N, 69°33'42,60" E 148 km Southeast of Dzheskasgan. Flight Duration (d:hr:min)  135d 18h 08m Nbr orbits  2112 Landing crew  Launch crew: Yurchikhin & Fischer  Whitson (crew MS-03)

Yurchikhin Fyodor, Fischer Jack.

Soyuz MS-04 path

Launched Crew

Backup Crew Nr. Name Job 1  Ryazansky, Sergei (Russia)  Commander 2  Bresnik, Randolph (US)  Flight engineer

Mission details:

• ISS Expedition 51/52.
• On Apr 20, 2017 Soyuz MS-04 was launched from Baikonur and docked with the Poisk module 6hr 4min later. Soyuz commander was Fyodor Yurchikin and flight engineer was Jack Fischer. This was the first two-person Soyuz mission in 14 years (Soyuz TMA-2 in Apr 2003), as Russia scales back its ISS crew pending completion of the delayed Nauka module.
• On Sep 2, 2017 at 21:58 UTC Soyuz MS-04 undocked from the Poisk module with Yurchikin, Fischer and Whitson. At undocking, Expedition 53 began.
• 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.
• 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.
• The Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft landed at 01:21 UTC Sep 3, 2017.

Soyuz MS-04 landing on parachute

Soyuz MS-04 cabine after landing

Soyuz MS-04 crew after landing

Astrophilately covers:

Launch cancel Baikonur, registered mail

Launch cancel Baikonur + MS04 special cancel, signed by the crew

Landing cancel Moscou, signed by the crew. Credit: #401