Soyuz TMA-08M

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  39125 / 13013A Launch date - time  28 March 2013 - 20:43 UT  (4:43 p.m. EDT) Launch site  Baikonur, LC1/5 Launch vehicle Soyuz-FG (#xx) Soyuz designation 11F732 Nº 708 Mass (kg)  7220 kg Docking date - time  29 March 2013 - 02:28 UT  after four orbits around Earth Target spacecraft/port  ISS/Poisk module Earth orbit on Mar 29.06:    - Perigee / Apogee  402 x 419 km    - Eccentricity      - Inclination  51.65°    - Period  92.67 min Undocking date - time  10 Sept 2013 - 23:35 UT Deorbit burn date - time  11 Sept 2013 - 02:05 UT Landing date - time  11 Sept 2013 - 02:58 UT Landing location  47°23'19.9"N, 69°38'50.5"E Flight Duration (d:hr:min)  166d 06h 15m Nbr orbits  2581 Landing crew  launch crew

Chris Cassidy, Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin will becoming part of the Expedition 35 crew on the space station. Credit: NASA

Backup crew

Launched Crew

Backup Crew

Description:

• Engineers did not make any changes to the Soyuz capsule for the mission, but the quick flight to the space station will be a test for the crew and ground controllers.
  The crew's activation of the Soyuz and docking preparations, typically spread out in a two-day period, must be completed in less than six hours.
• Soyuz cosmonauts and astronauts sit in specially-fitted couches inside the capsule's descent module for launch and docking. The accelerated rendezvous means the crew will wear their Sokol spacesuits and be seated for up to 10 hours, from the time they are strapped in on the launch pad until after docking.
  "The interesting thing from a human point-of-view is we don't have the time to take off our spacesuits, so we'll be strapped in our seats in our spacesuits for the whole duration of that six-hour period plus the pre-launch activities. So it will be a long day and a lot of time in the suits," Cassidy said.
• The quick approach leaves no time for the crew to enter the Soyuz habitation module at the forward end of the spacecraft, which contains food, drinking water and a toilet.
  On the plus side, the crew will reach the expansive space station sooner. Larger than a three-bedroom house, the complex includes a kitchen, bathrooms and lots of open space.

Mission Report:

• ISS Expedition 35/36.
• Soyuz TMA-08M was launched at 2043 UTC on Mar 28, 2013 carrying Pavel Vinogradov, Aleksandr Misurkin and Chris Cassidy. It is spacecraft Soyuz TMA-M No. 708, on ISS flight 34S. Following a only six hours solo flight Soyuz TMA-08M docked to the Poisk module at 0228 UTC Mar 29.
• Soyuz TMA-08M undocked from the Poisk module at 2335 UTC Sep 10, 2013.
• After undocking from Poisk, Soyuz TMA-08M made its deorbit burn at 0205 UTC. The BO and PAO modules were jettisoned at 0232 UTC and the SA descent module containing Vinogradov, Misurkin and Cassidy touched down safely in Kazakhstan at 0258 UTC after 166.3 days in space.
  
  

  Cabine on parachute

  Crew back on Earth

  
  
• 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 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 per second. Before it touched down, its speed slowed to only 5 feet 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 per second to 262 feet per second.
  The main parachute was the last to emerge. It is the largest chute, with a surface area of 10,764 square feet. 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 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.

Astrophilately covers:

Launch cancel Baikonur, registered mail

Undock &. Landing cancel Houston.

Launch &. Landing cancel 11.09.13 Arkalyk.