News

November 7, 2013
Soyuz TMA-11M launched to the International Space Station!
The crew onboard the spacecraft consists of: M. Tyurin, R. Mastracchio, K. Wakata.

In accordance with the mission plan of the International Space Station (ISS) and Russian commitments under this international project, a manned transportation spacecraft Soyuz TMA-11M was launched from Baikonur launch site at 08:14:16 Moscow Time.

The objective of the launch is to deliver to ISS a crew of three in order to bring the crew of Expedition Thirty Seven (ISS-38) up to six.

The crew of Soyuz TMA-11M consists of: Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin (spacecraft commander, Russia), US astronaut Richard Mastracchio (spacecraft flight engineer), Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata (spacecraft flight engineer-2).

The spacecraft was put into a parking low-Earth orbit with the following parameters: 51.67њ inclination , 200.35 km minimal altitude, 243.37 km maximum altitude, 88.64 minutes orbital period.

The onboard systems of the spacecraft operate normally.

At the launch site, the spacecraft prelaunch processing and launch were performed under the direction of the State Commission. The Commission was basing its decisions to proceed with each next step in processing and launching on the final report of the Technical Management headed by the President of RSC Energia, Designer General V.A. Lopota.

According to the telemetry data and reports from the crew of ISS, the space station systems operate normally. The station is ready for docking with the spacecraft.

 

For information:

1. RSC Energia is the prime manned space flight organization in the Russian rocket and space industry, responsible for the development of the ISS Russian Segment, its integration into the Space Station and its operation, including development and operation of the principal modules of the Segment (Zvezda, Pirs, Poisk, Rassvet, etc.), manufacturing, launch and operation of Soyuz TMA and Progress M spacecraft.
2. Currently working onboard ISS is the crew of ISS-37 consisting of: Russian cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin, Oleg Kotov, Sergei Ryazansky, US astronauts Karen Nyberg, Michael Hopkins and a European astronaut Luca Parmitano.
3. The docking of Soyuz TMA-11M with the ISS is scheduled for November 7, 2013 at 14:32 Moscow Time, 6 hours 18 minutes after the launch.
4. The mission plan for Soyuz TMA-11M calls for the spacecraft to rendezvous and dock with the ISS using a quick rendezvous profile after its orbital insertion. Against the possibility of contingencies occurring during rendezvous using this profile, methods have been developed for safely switching to the two-day rendezvous profile.