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Soyuz TMA-17M has delivered the next expedition crew to the ISS

July 23, 2015

Manned transportation spacecraft Soyuz TMA-17M carrying an international crew of Expedition ISS-44/45 consisting of Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and US astronaut Kjell Lindgren has successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS).

The spacecraft also delivered to the ISS about 170 kg of various cargoes, including life support supplies, accessories for video and photographic equipment, hardware and data storage media for science experiments, personal kits for the crew.

Launch vehicle Soyuz FG with manned spacecraft Soyuz TMA-17M was launched from the Baikonur launch site on July 23 at 00:02 Moscow Time. After performing a rendezvous with the ISS using a quick 4-orbit profile, at 05:45 Moscow Time the spacecraft docked with the Mini Research Module (MRM1) Rassvet.

After performing a number of preparatory operations (removing and drying spacesuits, performing a leak test of compartments and the docking interface, equalizing pressure, etc.) transfer hatches between the spacecraft and the station were opened. The members of the newly arrived crew transferred to the ISS and met with Russians Gennadi Padalka, Mikhail Kornienko and American Scott Kelly.

The newly arrived crew will work in orbit for 163 days. During the mission the cosmonauts and the astronauts will participate in operations with manned transportation spacecraft Soyuz TMA-16M, Soyuz TMA-18M, cargo transportation spacecraft Progress M-M and Progress MS, US cargo spacecraft Dragon, Cygnus and a Japanese cargo spacecraft HTV. The plans include activities to maintain the station in good working order, to upgrade it, and to run a program of scientific, engineering and applied studies and experiments. The members of the ISS-44/45 crew, as is customary, will be taking photos and shooting video onboard.

The manned transportation spacecraft of the new series Soyuz TMA-M developed and built by RSC Energia is an upgraded version of the Soyuz TMA spacecraft. It is equipped with new devices for the motion control and navigation system and an improved onboard measurement system. All the devices are built around state-of-the-art electronic components and run the latest software. The upgrade made it possible to reduce the mass of the onboard equipment and thus enhance the capability to deliver payload to orbit.

The spacecraft is designed to deliver the crews of up to three and their accompanying cargoes to the International Space Station (ISS), as well as to return them to Earth. When attached to the ISS, Soyuz TMA-M serves as a crew rescue vehicle and is kept permanently ready for emergency crew return to Earth. This might be required in case of an emergency onboard the station, illness or injury of a crewmember.

 

JSC RSC Energia: the leader in the rocket and space industry, and the prime contractor for manned space systems. The Corporation conducts work on the development of unmanned space and rocket systems (launch vehicles and orbital transfer vehicles), and high-technology systems for various non-space applications. Since August 2014, the Corporation is headed by Vladimir Lvovich Solntsev.