Soyuz TMA-02M

Beeker

Next Soyuz launch to the ISS, tomorrow Tuesday June 7 at 21:12 Irish time.
NASA's Mike Fossum, Russian cosmonuat Sergei Volkov and Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa are headed to the orbiting outpost for a six-month mission as part of the Expeditions 28 and 29.
They'll join the trio already living up there -- commander Andrey Borisenko, cosmonaut Alexander Samokutyaev and American astronaut Ron Garan.

Beeker

12april1981

Had the pleasure and privilege of meeting Mike afew years back with his sts 124 crew a really nice guy we will be watching tonight thanks for posting these great pics.

Rubecula

Great pics, The Russian launcher hardly seems to have changed since the early days. I love that way of working, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

lord lucan

Launch in an hours time. How things have changed,i'm getting excited by Soyuz launches now!:o

lord lucan

clln

lord lucan wrote: »

Launch in an hours time. How things have changed,i'm getting excited by Soyuz launches now!:o

Hi LL,i thought you would avail of another chance to miss a Soyuz launch!:D

clln

i will leave the rest of the Pics to You's! Hi Beeker!:)
but here is the traditional cuddly Teddy that floats when they are weightless!:)

lord lucan

Hope they didn't have beans for their pre-flight meal. It's a bit cosy in there!:pac:

Beeker

30 seconds

Beeker

Liftoff, great audio:)

Beeker

Beeker

Beeker

In space. Not quite the same as a Shuttle launch:(

lord lucan

Loving the comments beside the screen on Spacevidcast,great craic.:D

clln

Rubecula wrote: »

Great pics, The Russian launcher hardly seems to have changed since the early days. I love that way of working, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

The Penny-Farthing has done it again Rubecula!:)
the cuddly teddy was a pig this time!
Sure they are on the pigs back!:)
Safely in Orbit that is Great!

CO19

Where are they sitting in that ? is it in the white part or the middle grey part ?

clln

CO19 wrote: »

Where are they sitting in that ? is it in the white part or the middle grey part ?

Hi'ya CO19:)

good question ,i am only guessing but i imagine they are the middle part-descent module because they have an escape tower to pull them away safely and will move into the habitation module with the window when all seems well,wish you would not ask questions that will force me to study!:D:D:D

lord lucan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRI277wfiSg

clln

CO19 wrote: »

Where are they sitting in that ? is it in the white part or the middle grey part ?

Just as a follow up on that CO19 i trawled through Wikipedia,not my favourite source but it says the crew do sit in the descent module until safely in orbit.
any articles i found were related to previous versions of Soyuz and i could not find confirmation that the hatch between the descent and Orbital/habitation module is sealed at launch.
in all the excitement of seeing another three safely launched into Space as well as the flyaround pics of Shuttle and Station i was on such an adreniline high i posted in haste,not for the first time!:).

The Soyuz TM-0M is the second of two test Soyuz's that have gone digital,the third one if it has no problems will be the final test before the last version is fully replaced by the digital version.
Soyuz has also been chosen by Arianspace as its medium range launcher and is on course for its first launch from French Guiana before the end of the year.

The reason i believe the hatch's would be sealed between the modules at launch is the descent module has the Chutes and soft landing engines and if a problem occurs once in orbit they could quickly seperate the three modules and have a quick re-entry.

When i mentioned the escape tower, that would be used much earlier to safely pull the crew away if the rocked exploded on pad or shortly after take off,and has been used in the past as seen in this short video below,a very lucky crew!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyFF4cpMVag

clln

Just a bump that docking of Soyuz TMA-02 is due for 22.22,
Soyuz engineering camera's will be switched on at 21.40(those camera's only show black and white)
but always worth having a look at the camera's onboard the ISS which usually show views of a craft as it nears the station.
Spaceflight Now are saying they will have a live feed when Soyuz camera's are activated.
Nasa TV usually start docking coverage about half an hour before the event.
there is a feed from the ISS on NASA TV all the time it can broadcast live,but only by Windows Media player.
Lord Lucan also helped out recently that Spacevidcast carry the live ISS feed in a format other than WMP.

and to try and finally sort out any confusion about where the crew sits during a Soyuz launch and if the hatch's are closed between the descent module and the orbital module,this is from Spaceflight Now from launch day who are usually 100% accurate;

Activities upcoming over the next few hours include opening the hatchway into the capsule's living compartment where the crew can remove their spacesuits, pressurization of the Soyuz propellant tanks and two orbit adjustment maneuvers. The trio of crewmates should begin their sleep period around midnight EDT.

lord lucan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElX2b-PnaaQ

clln

Soft docking(mate) occured at 22.18,after that hard mate was confirmed at 22.29(meaning the docking probe had retracted and the hooks and latch's that secure both vehicles had gone ok)
This crew will be there for the last ever docking and flight by the Shuttle,STS-135 Atlantis.

Once again Roscosmo's coverage made it look oh so boring with only B&W vid from the Soyuz engineering camera and that translator that has a really irritating voice!
Why Soyuz cannot be fitted with a color camera i will never understand.....Grrrrrrr,
again the best pics came from camera's on the ISS;



Final color aproach before Soyuz docked during orbital night,according to wikipedia Soyuz launchs and docks in darkness so the craft can be followed by the ground more easily.



and here is Soyuz TMA-02M safely docked to Rassvett module of the ISS.
after leak checks etc hatch opening is scheduled for 01.30,often times this happens ahead of schedule.
Next Soyuz launch not due until Sept 22nd,before that hopefully fingers crossed the launch of Atlantis................ and that will be that for exciting manned launch days until......???????:(

clln

Well the new Crew are safely aboard the ISS;after the docking there was a short press conference,as usual this guy from NASA was in Moscow for it and his face to me always sums it up, how NASA personal feel about the way they have to cow-tow these days;





Here is the crew behaving as they should in front of camera's.


and how they behaved when they thought the camera was off!:D

P.S thanks to Lolie for posting the time of the first ISS pass after docking which i managed to get a good look at!:)

lord lucan

Very good video following the NASA team that support Soyuz return flights from the ISS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxO-pM1lLZ0