Soyuz TMA-1

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  27552 / 02050A Launch date - time  30 Oct 2002 - 03:11:11 UT Launch site  Baikonur, LC1/5 Launch vehicle  Soyuz-FG (Nº E15000-004) Soyuz designation  7K-STMA nº:211 (11F732) Mass (kg)  7300? kg Launched Crew  Zalyotin S. (CDR) De Winne F. (FE1) Lonchakov Yu. (FE2) Call Sign   Backup crew

Docking date - time  01 Nov 2002 - 05:01:20 UT Target spacecraft/port  ISS/Pirs nadir port Earth orbit on :    - Perigee / Apogee  384 x 404 km    - Inclination 51.64°    - Period  92.44 min Undocking date - time  03 May 2003 - 22:43 UT Deorbit burn date - time  04 May 2003 - 01:12:16 UT Landing date - time 04 Mai 2003 - 02:04:25 UT Landing site 460km away of point, near town of Turgai (49°37′ N, 61°20′ E) Flight Duration cabine  185d 22h 53min Nbr orbits   Landing crew  Budarin N., Pettit D., Bowersox K. (Exp.6)

Visiting Crew VC-4:

Crew going up to the Soyuz capsule to lift off

Odissea Mission description:

• During the mission, named Odissea, De Winne performed a series of science and technology related experiments on board the ISS. The Belgian Federal Office for Scientific, Technical and Cultural Affairs (OSTC) provided the funding for De Winne's flight and the related experimental programme.
• The prime task of the mission was to replace the TM-34 Soyuz vehicle attached to the Station with the modernised version. It is essential for the resident crew that the Soyuz 'lifeboat' remains in top condition in case of an emergency evacuation and so regular 'taxi' flights, such as Odissea, are used to swap an older Soyuz spacecraft with a newer craft every six months. This was the fourth such exchange of a Soyuz spacecraft since the assembly of the Space Station started in November 1998.
• While on board the Space Station, De Winne performed a large experimental programme, including work with one of the key research facilities: the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG), an important piece of European hardware. The MSG provides an enclosed, sealed environment in which to perform experiments on combustion, fluids and biotechnology safely under conditions of weightlessness. Designed and developed in Europe, the MSG facility was launched on board the Space Shuttle Endeavour in June 2002 and has been installed in the US laboratory Destiny.
  
  

  Frank De Winne works with the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) Credits: ESA

  De Winne Odissea path for Soyuz-TMA 1 mission

  
  
• The Odissea crew returned to Earth in the TM-34 Soyuz spacecraft that was launched to the Space Station in April 2002 by the Marco Polo taxi flight crew which included Italian ESA astronaut Roberto Vittori.

Mission details:

• Taxi-Crew 4 to the ISS; replacing ISS' escape craft (Soyuz TM-34); Soyuz TMA-1 serves as a new lifeboat.
• Soyuz No. 211 (Soyuz TMA-1) was launched on Oct 30, 2002 aboard a Soyuz-FG rocket. It carries the EP-4 crew (Visiting crew no. 4) of Sergey Zalyotin (commander), Frank De Winne (flight engineer 1), and Yuriy Lonchakov (flight engineer 2) on ISS mission 5S. The Soyuz TMA is a minor modification of the Soyuz TM, with the descent module improved to provide space for taller crew members and with enhanced soft-landing systems. The Soyuz-FG (11A511U-FG) is a minor modification of the Soyuz-U, with improved fuel injectors on the engines.
• Launch was at 0311 UTC; the four strapons (Blok B,V,G,D) were jettisoned successfully. The Blok A core (`second') stage burned until 0315 UTC and then separated; the Blok I third stage then fired, placing itself in orbit at 0320 UTC. Blok I then separated from Soyuz TMA-1, and Soyuz TMA-1 deployed its solar panels.
• Soyuz TMA-1 docked with the Pirs module at 0501 UTC on Nov 1, 2002. The EP-4 visiting crew of Zalyotin, De Winne and Lonchakov have joined Korzun, Treshchev and Whitson on the Station.
• On Nov 9, 2002 the EP-4 crew boarded Soyuz TM-34 and undocked from the Zarya nadir port at 2044 UTC, leaving Soyuz TMA-1 for the resident crew.
• The Ex-6 crew of Bowersox, Budarin and Pettit boarded Soyuz 11F732 No.211 (Soyuz TMA-1) on May 3, 2003 and undocked from the Pirs nadir port at 2243 UTC. After almost 2 orbits of the Earth Soyuz TMA-1 fired its deorbit engines at 0112 UTC. The engine and orbital modules separated from the descent module at 0140 UTC, and entry began at around 0143 UTC.
• A descent computer failure caused the spacecraft to fly a ballistic reentry, slowly spinning the craft to remove lift which could send the vehicle off course if incorrectly aimed. This also meant that the crew suffered unexpectedly high accelerations of around 8g and landed 450 km short along the groundtrack. Several parachute lines also broke, but the crew landed safely and were recovered some hours late. Although there was confusion for some hours about the health of Don Pettit, who was not seen on camera initially, it appears that he was feeling the effects of the return to gravity more than his fellow crewmembers but is otherwise all right.
• There is some confusion about the actual landing time; a ballistic entry should have made the landing time earlier than the scheduled 0206 UTC but various sources give from 0207 UTC to 0212 UTC; the time will presumably be refined eventually.

Astrophilately covers:

Launch cover Soyuz TMA-1, with special flight and date cancels

Docking cover ISS, with docking date and ISS board cancel, signed by the crew