Launch News Soyuz TMA-18 atop Soyuz-FG on April 2, 2010

[SiberianTiger]

Launch site:Baikonur (Launch pad no. 1/5 45°55'12.85"N, 63°20'32.27"E)

The launch time is:
10 : 04 : 34 Baikonur 02.04.2010
08 : 04 : 34 Moscow Summer Time 02.04.2010
04 : 04 : 34 UTC April 2, 2010
12 : 04 : 34 a.m. EDT April 2, 2010


[eventTimer]2010-04-02 04:04:34?before|after;%dd% Days %hh% Hours %mm% Minutes %ss% Seconds %c%[/eventTimer] Soyuz TMA-18 Launch

The expected docking time is:
09 : 26 + 3 min Moscow Summer Time 04.04.2010
05 : 26 + 3 min UTC April 4, 2010
1 : 26 a.m. + 3 min EDT April 4, 2010


[eventTimer]2010-04-04 05:26:00?before|after;%dd% Days %hh% Hours %mm% Minutes %ss% Seconds %c%[/eventTimer] Soyuz TMA-18 Docking

Crew Commander's Callsign: Утёс (oo'tyoss, meaning Cliff)

(clickable)

Alexander A. Skvortsov Jr. (Commander)
"If you fly every time as though you were a hero and as though you were doing something heroic, then you're not ready for flight."

Soyuz TMA-18 Commander,
ISS Flight Engineer in Exp 23 and Commander in Exp 24,
GCTC Cosmonaut (Russia)
Colonel, Russian Air Force
No previous spaceflight experience.

Born May 6, 1966, in Schelkovo, Moscow Region. Married. Has one daughter. Enjoys diving, occer, badminton, fishing, hunting, and tourism.
His father, Alexander A. Skvortsov, was a CTC Test Cosmonaut selected in 1965, but never went to space.

Graduated from the Stavropol Air Force Pilot and Navigator School as pilot-engineer in 1987, and in 1997 from the Military Red Banner Zhukov Air Defense Academy. Currently working on a law degree at the Russian Academy of Civil Service.

Skvortsov flew L-39, МiG-23 and Su-27 aircraft as a pilot, senior pilot and chief of aircraft formation. Skvortsov has logged around 1000 hours of flight time. He is a Class 1 Air Force pilot, a qualified diver and paraborne instructor.

Pre-flight interview with Alexander

(clickable)

Tracy Caldwell Dyson (Flight Engineer)
"You take the firmest believer in not having humans in space and you launch them and you take them right in front of a window and have them look at that beautiful, plump, pink and blue planet as it turns from sunrise to sunset, and they'll change their mind."

Soyuz TMA-18 Flight Engineer,
ISS-23/24 Flight Engineer
NASA Astronaut
1 space mission
12 days 17 hr 55 min 40 sec in space

Born August 14, 1969 in Arcadia, California. Married to George Dyson. Tracy enjoys sports, hiking, and auto repair/maintenance. She competed in intercollegiate Track & Field at CSUF as both a sprinter and long jumper.

Received B.S. in Chemistry from the California State University at Fullerton (1993) and Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California at Davis (1997).

Scientific scope: electronics and hardware associated with a laser-ionization; molecular-level surface reactivity and kinetics of metal surfaces using electron spectroscopy, laser desorption, and Fourier transform mass spectrometry techniques. She is a private pilot and conversational in American Sign Language (ASL) and Russian.

SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE: STS-118 (August 8-21, 2007) was the 119th space shuttle flight, the 22nd flight to the International Space Station (ISS), and the 20th flight for Endeavour. During the mission Endeavour's crew successfully added truss segment S5 and a new gyroscope to the ISS. As MS-1, Caldwell assisted in flight deck operations on ascent and also aided in rendezvous/docking operations with the ISS. Caldwell operated Endeavour's robotic arm to maneuver the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) and handover the S5 truss segment to the ISS, and also served as the intravehicular or "IV" crewmember, directing the four spacewalks.

Pre-flight interview with Tracy

(clickable)

Mikhail B. Kornienko
"We have to see the space with human eyes."

Soyuz TMA-18 Flight Engineer,
ISS-23/24 Flight Engineer
RSC Energia Cosmonaut
No previous spaceflight experience.

Born April 15, 1960, in Syzran, Kuibyshev region, Russia. Married. Has one daughter. Hobbies include running, swimming, athletics, and mountaineering.

Graduated from secondary school in Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 1977. Served in the paratroops from 1978 to 1980. From 1981 to 1987 he studied at the Moscow Aviation Institute, graduating with an engineering degree (aircraft engine mechanical engineer).

In April 1995 Kornienko started working at the Energia Rocket Space Corporation (RSC) as an engineer with responsibility for technical documentation and software for testing and crew EVA training. In 1999, following basic training at the Yu. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, was qualified as a test cosmonaut.

Pre-flight interview with Mikhail

The back-up crew of the Soyuz TMA-18 consists of

Alexander Samokutyaev (Russia)
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/samokutyaev.html

Andrey Borisenko (Russia)
http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/cosmonauts/english/borisenko_andrei.htm

Scott J. Kelly (USA)
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/kellysj.html

to be continued...

 

[orb]

There is also a Calendar event for launch of TMA-18 on the Orbiter-Forum. It's a ranged event set for the time of launch, so if someone doesn't want to miss it, can Request Reminder for this Event, which will be sent in an e-mail on set time before the event. I'll add docking to ISS event to the O-F's Calendar and post a link to it after the launch.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Spacecraft: Soyuz TMA-18 (int: Soyuz 22S, model 11Ф732А17, serial #2??)

Manufacturer: Energia Rocket & Space Company

Mission: Flying the ISS Expedition 23/24 crew members aboard the ISS

The spacecraft's mass is 7220.0 kg (TBD)

The Launch Vehicle's Flight Profile:

Operation|Flight time, sec
Lift-off|0.00
Escape tower's jettison|113.38
1st stage separation|117.80
Ship's fairing jettison|157.48
2nd stage separation|287.30
Tail adapter's jettioson|297.05
3rd stage's MECO|524.96
Ship's separation|528.26

1. Soyuz-FG's ascent chart

From here and on the times are given in Moscow Summer Time Zone (UTC+4)

2. Initial orbit's parameters

The expected payload separation time: 08 h 13 m 22.26 s

||Soyuz TMA-18|The ISS
Orbit Parameter|Designation|Nominal value and tolerance limits|At the alignment orbit
Period|T, min|88.64 ±0.367|91.41
Inclination|i, degrees|51.67 ±0.058|51.66
Minimum altitude|h, km|200.0 ±7 -22|343.4
Maximum altitude|H, km|242 ±42|366.7

Phase angle between the space ship and the ISS is about 258 degrees.
Projected duration of the space ship at the nominal orbit is no less than 20 orbits (~30 hrs)

3. Transfer manoeuvres
(two days long approach scheme applied)

3.1. Orbit Phasing by the pre-calculated ballistic information

* 1st two-burn manoeuvre

Date|Burn at|Orbit #|Delta V, m/s|Burn duration, s|post-burn T,min|post-burn i,deg|post-burn h,km|post-burn H,km
02.04.10|11:39:44|3|16,30|41,2|89,19|51,66|214,9|266,5
02.04.10|12:38:38|4|3,94|11,0|89,33|51,63|221,0|277,7

* 2nd one-burn correction

Date|Burn at|Orbit #|Delta V, m/s|Burn duration, s|post-burn T,min|post-burn i,deg|post-burn h,km|post-burn H,km
03.04.10|09:05:50|17|2,00|6,2|89,38|51,66|227,1|276,7

3.2. Far range rendez-vous manouevering.

The input for the on-board rendez-vous system is given 3 hours before docking in form of state vectors of the spacecraft and the ISS.

Autonomous rendez-vous begin at 07:06:50

Assigned docking node "Russian +Y" directed MRM2 node

4. Close range rendez-vous and approach manoeuvres

Since 08:03:44 and till capture.

5. Docking to the ISS

On April 4, 2010 at 09 hrs 26 min 00 sec ±3 min.

BACKUP TIMES:
Launch: 04.04.2010, 07 hrs 16 min 21 sec
Docking: 06.04.2010, 08 hrs 44 ±3 min

The Approach Chart:

Launcher: Soyuz-FG (model 11А511У-ФГ)

|"Soyuz-FG" launch vehicle is intended for injection of automatic spacecraft for national economy, scientific research ("Resurs-F1", "Resurs-F2", "Foton" spacecraft) and spacecraft for special purposes ("Kosmos"-series satellites) as well as manned and cargo spaceships according to the program of the International Space Station. In contrast to "Soyuz-U" launch vehicle modernized engines with heightened specific thrust on units of the 1-st and the 2-nd stages, developed for "Soyuz-2" launch vehicle, are used for "Soyuz-FG" launch vehicle for increasing load-carrying capacity. "Soyuz-FG" launch vehicle can be equipped with nose fairing of the following diameters: 2,7 m; 3,0 m; 3,3 m; 3,7 m.

Manufacturer: Samara Space Centre

The vehicle's reliability statistics according to http://www.spacelaunchreport.com/reliability2010.txt:

================================================================ 
Vehicle     Successes/Tries Realzd Pred  Consc. Last     Dates     
                             Rate  Rate* Succes Fail     
================================================================ 
Soyuz-FG         20    20   1.00  .95     20    None     2001-

Launch preparation picture chronicles

March 5th, Training sessions in Gagarin CTC

Tracy Caldwell Dyson

Mikhail Kornienko

March 20th, Kremlin

A photo in front of Czar Cannon

Reverence for Korolev

Farewell Party in Roscosmos

March 22nd, Arrival at Baikonur

to be contunued...

 

[Rocketman527]

Tracy is kinda hot...

 

[tblaxland]

Tracy is kinda hot...

Wait until you see that hair in action in freefall

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Wait until you see that hair in action in freefall

Unless she ties it back, like most of the female astronauts do.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Continued picture chronic

Look for high-res pictures at http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-23/ndxpage18.html, and other pages.

1st on-site training, March 22

Ceremonial raising flags, March 23

Transporting TMA-18 to tanking station, and putting into scaffold, March, 24

Crew individual seat fitting, March, 25

Space and busy time at Baikonur, March 28

Traditional planting trees, March 28

 

[SiberianTiger]

Even more pics

March 26, assembling the launch vehicle

March 29, signing the hotel door

A photo with the backup crew in the Spaceflight museum at Baikonur

March 31, Rolling out and erection at the launch pad

 

[SiberianTiger]

Soyuz TMA-18 mission videos (other mission videos are at http://www.tvroscosmos.ru/frm/video/start68.php)

Encapsulating Soyuz TMA-18 into fairing

Media day at Baikonur

Weather forecast for Baikonur, Kazakhstan for April 2, 2010

Hi: 10°C
Lo: 2°C
There is a 0% chance of precipitation. Mostly sunny. Mild. Temperature of 10°C. Winds ENE 23km. Humidity will be 48% with a dewpoint of 0° and feels-like temperature of 10°C.

Sunrise/Sunset and associated twilight times for Baikonur on Friday, April 2, 2010

Times are local.

Event|Time
Astronomical twilight begins|05 : 39
Nautical twilight begins|06 : 17
Civil twilight begins|06 : 53
Sunrise|07 : 22
Transit (sun is at its highest)|13 : 50
Sunset|20 : 17
Civil twilight ends|20 : 46
Nautical twilight ends|21 : 22
Astronomical twilight ends|22 : 00

Watching the launch live

NASA TV - Windows Media
http://www.nasa.gov/55644main_NASATV_Windows.asx
NASA TV - Real Player
http://www.nasa.gov/ram/35037main_portal.ram
NASA TV - QuickTime
http://www.nasa.gov/qtl/151335main_NASA_TV_QT.qtl
NASA TV - Yahoo list
http://playlist.yahoo.com/makeplaylist.dll?id=1368163

NASA TV Schedule for April 1 and 2 (the times are in EDT):

April 1, Thursday
...
11 a.m. - Expedition 23 ISS Update – JSC (Public and Media Channels)
12 p.m. - ISS Expedition 23 State Commission Meeting and Crew News Conference in Baikonur, Kazakhstan Video File – JSC/Baikonur (Public and Media Channels)
10:30 p.m. - ISS Expedition 23 Pre-Launch Video File – JSC/Baikonur (Public and Media Channels)
11:15 p.m. - ISS Expedition 23 Soyuz TMA-18 Launch Coverage (Launch scheduled at 12:04 a.m. EDT April 2; launch replays follow) – JSC/Baikonur (Public and Media Channels)

April 2, Friday
2:30 a.m. - ISS Expedition 23 Soyuz TMA-18 Post-Launch Video File – JSC/Baikonur (Public and Media Channels)
...
11 a.m. - Expedition 23 ISS Update – JSC (Public and Media Channels)

TSENKI video streams (Russian + English)
http://www.tv-tsenki.com/livechoose.php

ENERGIA's Webcast (Russian)
http://www.energia.ru:8080/ramgen/broadcast/lagoon/encoder/live.rm

TSUP M's (Moscow MCC's) stream - Windows Media (Russian)
mms://193.233.61.171/live

Vesti - High Quality (Russian)
http://www.vesti.ru/video1.asx?vid=onair
Vesti - Low Quality (Russian)
http://www.vesti.ru/video1.asx?vid=onair_low

Source References
http://astro.zeto.czest.pl
http://astronaut.ru
http://www.energia.ru
http://www.federalspace.ru
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com
http://www.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru
http://www.mcc.rsa.ru
http://www.tvroscosmos.ru
http://www.nasa.gov
http://www.spacelaunchreport.com
http://weatherbug.com
http://www.good-stuff.co.uk/suntimes/sunmap.php


---------- Post added 01-04-10 at 11:56 ---------- Previous post was 31-03-10 at 20:22 ----------

Wait until you see that hair in action in freefall

Do you mean, like this? :lol:

BTW, when I look at the pictures of her like

And finally,

The one another who inevitably comes to my mind is...

:thumbup:

 

[SiberianTiger]

Few more pictures of rolling the rocket out and insertion into the launch structure, source: http://community.livejournal.com/ru_cosmos/546298.html?nc=1

I love this view: :rofl:

Another news, song "Трава у дома" (Green grassed lawn), which is traditionally played in recording during the crew farewell ceremony, will be played live this time by rock group "Земляне" (Earthers) who are proud to attend Baikonur this time. The song was first performed in 1983:

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIcE1p7xlIk"]YouTube- ВИА "Земляне" - "Трава у дома"[/nomedia]

 

[tblaxland]

The one another who inevitably comes to my mind is...
[...Sigourney Weaver pics...]

"Wanna get me some clothes, or should I just go like this?" :lol:

 

[SiberianTiger]

Here is the rolling out and erection video:

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T7PTnIg2dU&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube- Вывоз РН Союз-ФГ с КК Союз ТМА-18[/nomedia]

Tomorrow morning it will be a commuting time for me. Could someone watch here over the launch, please?

 

[Star Voyager]

I'd be glad to :thumbup:!

---------- Post added at 10:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:56 PM ----------

Mission Staus Center now up:

http://spaceflightnow.com/station/exp23/status.html

---------- Post added 04-02-10 at 12:03 AM ---------- Previous post was 04-01-10 at 10:26 PM ----------

T-2 minutes, all systems are go.

---------- Post added at 12:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:03 AM ----------

Liftoff of TMA-18 and Expedition 23!

---------- Post added at 12:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:06 AM ----------

SRB and tower seperation.

---------- Post added at 12:10 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:07 AM ----------

Looks like some comm. issues here as stage 2 seperates.

---------- Post added at 12:15 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:10 AM ----------

TMA is in orbit!

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Did you hear the conversation just after launch?

Launch Control: "Watch that rabbit".
Soyuz crew: "It's a ducky".

That's such a mundane thing to be talking about while rocketing out of the planet, that it's hilarious! :rofl:

 

[tl8]

Major comms issue

 

[Izack]

Congratulations on a good launch.
Dunno what's going wrong with the radio, but I'm sure they'll work it out. :yes:

 

[orb]

Did you hear the conversation just after launch?

Launch Control: "Watch that rabbit".
Soyuz crew: "It's a ducky".

That's such a mundane thing to be talking about while rocketing out of the planet, that it's hilarious! :rofl:

It's very important whether the mascot is a rabbit or ducky. :lol:

Dunno what's going wrong with the radio, but I'm sure they'll work it out. :yes:

It's because of rabbit... Uh, I mean ducky. :rofl:


Anyway, O-F's Calendar event for docking TMA-18 to ISS with set timer is up. It's also a ranged event, so it can be used as a remainder (sent by e-mail) to turn on the NASA TV on docking.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Congratulations on the good launch! :thumbup:

This video is a set of pre-flight interviews and the mission overview in Russian, but might be nice to see for a non-speaker, too.

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-jWUUAZCe8&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube- Утёсы готовятся к старту. Utyosy are About to Start.[/nomedia]

Note the 1:11 - it's a brand new Sokol embedded nose scratcher! :lol:
At 2:35 Tracy admits, that long hair is a tremendous problem in space, and she is going to do something about this. In the end, they say they will play football (or soccer?) aboard the ISS. "It's now just of the right size for that!"

Some photos of the way to launch pad:

And finally, the launch pics themselves (clickable for hi-res!):





---------- Post added at 11:12 ---------- Previous post was at 11:10 ----------

BTW, why have youtube links stopped embedding? :hmm:

 

[Notebook]

Good grief, missed it, and I was up and about! Thought it was tonight, memory is starting to go. Hopefully catch the docking.


Looks good, be nice to see that from Kourou
N.

 

[Submariner]

Not being familiar with the Soyuz spacecraft, how does the crew board the vehicle once it's in the fairing? There must be a hatch through the fairing, obviously, but does anyone have a photo that shows ingress? I'm very curious since I've been launching Soyuz TMA in orbiter.