Soyuz MS-17

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  46613 / 20072A Launch date - time  14 Oct 2020 - 05:45:04 UTC Launch site  Baikonur, LC-31/6 Launch vehicle  Soyuz-2-1a (No. Kh15000-045) Soyuz designation  11F732A48 nº747 Mass (kg)   kg Docking date - time  14 Oct 2020 - 08:48:43 UTC Target spacecraft/port  ISS/Rassvet Earth orbit on :    - Perigee / Apogee  400 km    - Eccentricity      - Inclination  51.66°    - Period   min Undocking date - time  19 Mar 2021 - 16:38:27 UTC Redocking date - time  19 Mar 2021 - 17:12:35 UTC Target spacecraft/port  ISS/Poisk Undocking date - time  17 Apr 2021 - 01:34:04 UTC Deorbit burn date - time  17 Apr 2021 - 04:01:35 UTC Landing date - time  17 Apr 2021 - 04:55:07.9 UTc Landing location  47° 19′32.4" N, 69° 39′ 34.8" E Flight Duration (d:hr:min)  184d 23h 10m 03s Nbr orbits  2960 Landing crew  Launch crew

Launched Crew

Launch crew: Rubins, Ryzhikov and Kud-Sverchkov.

Backup Crew

Descriptions:

• SOYUZ MS-17 is a Soyuz spaceflight that transported three members of the Expedition 63 crew to the International Space Station. MS-17 is the 145th crewed flight of a Soyuz spacecraft.
• The mission marked the first use of a new "ultrafast" two-orbit rendezvous flight plan with the Soyuz, which saw Soyuz MS-17 arrive at the ISS within approximately three hours after the launch.

Mission details:

• ISS Expedition 63/64.
• Soyuz MS-17 was launched on Oct 14, 2020 at 0545 UTC with Sergey Ryzhikov, Sergey Kud'-Sverchkov and Kate Rubins. It docked with the Rassvet module at 0848 UTC. The 3 hr 3min 49s flight from Earth to ISS is a record for the ISS program.
• On Mar 19, 2021 Ryzhikov, Kud-Sverchkov and Rubins entered Soyuz MS-17 and flew it from the Rassvet docking port to the Poisk docking port. Undocking was at 1638 UTC and redocking at 1712 UTC.
• The deorbit burn lasted 320 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.

Soyuz MS-17 landing on parachute. Photo Credit: NASA

Soyuz MS-17 after landing.

External links:

• AmericaSpace: 210417-Expedition 65 Begins, as Soyuz MS-17 Trio Return Safely to Earth
  

Astrophilately covers:

Launch cancel Baikonur 14.10.2020, registered mail.