Soyuz TMA-8

Soyuz TMA-8

Operator	Roskosmos
Mission duration	182 days
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	Soyuz-TMA 11F732
Manufacturer	RKK Energia
Launch mass	7,270 kilograms (16,030 lb)
Crew
Crew size	3
Members	Pavel Vinogradov Jeffrey Williams
Launching	Marcos Pontes
Landing	Anousheh Ansari
Callsign	Carat
Start of mission
Launch date	March 30, 2006, 02:30 UTC
Rocket	Soyuz-FG
Launch site	Baikonur 1/5
End of mission
Landing date	September 29, 2006, 01:13 UTC
Landing site	Kazakhstan
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee	200 kilometres (120 mi)
Apogee	241 kilometres (150 mi)
Inclination	51.67 degrees
Period	88.64 minutes
Docking with ISS
From left to right: Marcos Pontes, Jeffrey Williams, Pavel Vinogradov Soyuz programme (Manned missions) ← Soyuz TMA-7 Soyuz TMA-9 →

Soyuz TMA-8 was a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station (ISS) launched by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle.

Crew

Soyuz TMA-8 was a transport mission for portions of the International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 13 crew. The flight delivered ISS Commander Pavel Vinogradov and ISS Flight Engineer Jeffrey Williams to the station to replace Expedition 12 crew members. Flight Engineer Marcos Pontes joined the TMA-8 crew for the ascent and docking with ISS, spent approximately seven days aboard the ISS conducting experiments, then returned to Earth with the outgoing members of Expedition 12 aboard Soyuz TMA-7. Vinogradov and Williams were joined on their return trip to Earth by Spaceflight Participant Anousheh Ansari who launched aboard Soyuz TMA-9 and spent approximately eight days aboard ISS conducting experiments for the European Space Agency.

Position	Launching crew	Landing crew
Commander	Pavel Vinogradov, RKA[1] Expedition 13 Second spaceflight
Flight Engineer	Jeffrey Williams, NASA[1] Expedition 13 Second spaceflight
Spaceflight Participant	Marcos Pontes, AEB[1] First spaceflight	/ Anousheh Ansari, SA First spaceflight Tourist

Back-up crew

Position	Crew
Commander	Fyodor Yurchikhin, RKA[2]
Flight Engineer	Michael Fincke, NASA[2]
Flight Engineer	Sergei Volkov, RKA[2]

Docking with ISS

• Docked to ISS: April 1, 2006, 04:19 UTC (to nadir port of Zarya)^[3]
• Undocked from ISS: September 28, 2006, 21:53 UTC (from nadir port of Zarya)

Mission highlights

The Soyuz TMA-8 launch on 30 March 2006.

Jeffrey Williams inside the Soyuz TMA-8 spacecraft

29th manned flight to ISS (Flight 12S)

Soyuz TMA-8 is a Soyuz spacecraft which was launched on March 30, 2006 by a Soyuz-FG rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Near the end of second stage burn, a communications blackout occurred at Moscow Mission Control. A satellite link was lost, but was restored about 10 minutes later. The crew was safe throughout the loss of communications.

The spacecraft carried two members of the Expedition 13 crew to the International Space Station, together with Marcos Pontes, the first Brazilian in space. The Brazilian government paid Russia approximately $20 million (USD) for Pontes' flight.^[4] They replaced the Expedition 12 crew, Commander William McArthur and Valery Ivanovich Tokarev. Together with the Expedition 12 crew, Marcos Pontes returned to Earth on board Soyuz TMA-7.

Soyuz TMA-8 returned to Earth, together with Expedition 13, the spaceflight participant launched with Soyuz TMA-9, Anousheh Ansari.^[5]

See also

• List of spaceflights (2006)

References

1. NASA (2006-03-29). "New Station Crew Launches From Baikonur". National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved 2007-08-12.
2. NASA (2006-01-05). "NASA Announces Next International Space Station Crew". NASA. Retrieved 2007-08-12.
3. NASA (2006-03-31). "New Crew Docks With Space Station". NASA. Retrieved 2007-08-12.
4. Delphine Thouvenot (2005). "Brazil's President In Moscow Signs Deal For Joint Space Mission". Space Daily. Retrieved October 30, 2007.
5. NASA (2005-09-28). "Space Station Crew Back on Earth". NASA. Retrieved 2007-08-12.

External links

• Expedition 13/Soyuz TMA-8