Here's my brief report on tomorrow's launch of 3 new ISS crew members! This is the first of a long series of posts featuring the details of the Soyuz spacecraft, the final training and special rituals that the cosmonauts enjoy in the weeks heading towards the launch pad and the process that the spacecraft and rocket gradually build up for the ride up - with lots of surprises here and there!
Launch location:
Baikonur Launch pad no. 1/5 45°55'12.85"N, 63°20'32.27"E
Launch dates and times:
{colsp=6}Launch times
Time Zone
|
Australia - Sydney/AEST (UTC+11)
|
Baikonur / UTC+6
|
Moscow / MSKS (UTC+4)
|
Universal / UTC
|
Washington / EDT (UTC-4)
Launch time (Primary):
|
07:31:24
|
02:31:24
|
00:31:24
|
20:31:24
|
16:31:24
on:
|
May 29, 2013
|
May 29, 2013
|
May 29, 2013
|
May 28, 2013
|
May 28, 2013
Launch time (Backup):
|
06:46:14
|
01:46:14
|
23:46:14
|
19:46:14
|
15:46:14
on:
|
May 31, 2013
|
May 31, 2013
|
May 30, 2013
|
May 30, 2013
|
May 30, 2013
{colsp=6}
[highlight][eventTimer]2013-05-28 20:31:24?before|after;%dd% Days %hh% Hours %mm% Minutes %ss% Seconds %c%[/eventTimer] Soyuz TMA-09M Launch[/highlight]
{colsp=6}Docking times
Time Zone
|
Australia - Sydney/AEST (UTC+11)
|
Moscow / MSKS (UTC+4)/
|
Universal / UTC
|
Washington / EDT (UTC-4)
Docking time (Primary):
|
13:16:07 +-3 min
|
06:16:07 +-3 min
|
02:16:07 +-3 min
|
22:16:07 +-3 min
on:
|
May 29, 2013
|
May 29, 2013
|
May 29, 2013
|
May 28, 2013
Docking time (Backup):
|
08:39 +-3 min
|
01:39 +-3 min
|
21:39 +-3 min
|
17:39 +-3 min
on:
|
Jun. 2, 2013
|
Jun. 2, 2013
|
Jun. 1, 2013
|
Jun. 1, 2013
{colsp=6}
[highlight][eventTimer]2013-05-29 02:16:07?before|after;%dd% Days %hh% Hours %mm% Minutes %ss% Seconds %c%[/eventTimer] Soyuz TMA-09M docking to ISS[/highlight]
Live Coverage Of The Launch:
Soyuz TMA-09M (industry id 11F747 #709, NASA id Soyuz 35S) manned spaceship
The crew:
|
|
Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, Roscosmos (previous flight experience: STS-112, Soyuz TMA-10 / ISS Exp. 15, Soyuz TMA-19 / ISS Exp. 24/25)
|
Flight Engineer Luca Parmitano, ESA (previous flight experience: /)
|
Flight Engineer Karen Nyberg, NASA (previous flight experience: STS-124)
The mission patch:
Mission Profile
Ascent Chart:
1. Approach and Docking Chart:
The times below are Moscow Time (UTC+4), commas separate fractional part of numbers:
Expected time of spacecraft separation: 00:40:12.26
2. Orbital Parameters of Soyuz TMA-09M and the ISS
Parameter|Designation|Soyuz TMA-09M at 28/05|ISS at 29/05
Orbital Period|T, min|88.64 +-0.367|92.81
Inclination|i, degrees|51.67 +-0.058|51.66
Min altitude|h, km|200 +7 -22|408.26
Max altitude|H, km|242 +-42|434.53
Phase angle between the space ship and the ISS is about 33 degrees.
Projected duration of the space ship staying at the nominal orbit is no less than 20 orbits (~30 hrs).
3. Transfer maneuvers
(six hours short approach scheme applied)
* Nominal two-burn maneuver and two-burn orbit phasing 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
29.05.13|1:16:01|1|18.89|47.6|89.29|51.64|225.34|264.23
29.05.13|1:59:51|2|10.05|25.8|89.63|51.65|253.62|279.57
29.05.13|2:34:32|2|7.00|18.3|89.88|51.67|254.11|295.19
29.05.13|3:04:26|2|7.00|18.3|90.12|51.64|273.45|300.50
Autonomous approach program is initiated at 4:06:27.
4. Approach at the Close range
Fly-around, station keeping and docking will be initiated at 5:51:28 on May 29, 2013.
5. Docking
Contact and capture is planned on May 29, 2013 at 06:16:07 +-3 min.
Docking is performed to MIM-1 Rassvet -Y docking node
Launch Vehicle:
{colsp=2}Characteristics
|
{colsp=2}
Soyuz-U
Prime contractor:
|
- Samara Space Sentre (Energia Holding enterprise)
GRAU Index:
|
Height:
| 51.1 m
Diameter:
| max 10.3 m
Liftoff mass:
| 313 metric tonnes
Payload mass:
| 6.95 tonnes at ISS orbit from Baikonur
1st stage (boosters B, V, G, D):
|
- 4 X RD-107A engines
- Propellants (T-1 Kerosene and LOX)
- Thrust/ISP in vacuum - / 316 s
- Thrust/ISP at sea level 79.4 tonnes / 253 s
- Total 1st stage's thrust at sea level: 411.1 tonnes
2nd stage (core A):
|
- 1 X RD-108A engine
- Propellants (T-1 Kerosene and LOX)
- Thrust/ISP in vacuum 102 tonnes / 314 s
- Thrust/ISP at sea level 83.5 tonnes / 257 s
3rd stage (block I):
|
- 1 X RD-0110 engine
- Propellants (T-1 Kerosene and LOX)
- Thrust/ISP in vacuum 30.38 tonnes / 359 s
The vehicle's
reliability statistics according to
http://www.spacelaunchreport.com/log2013.html#rate:
Code:
================================================================
Vehicle Successes/Tries Realzd Pred Consc. Last Dates
Rate Rate* Succes Fail
================================================================
Soyuz-FG 33 33 1.00 .97 33 None 2001-
Weather forecast for Baikonur, Kazakhstan on May 29, 2013 (2 a.m.)
Clear. Low of 18C. Winds from the ESE at 5 to 15 km/h.
Time|Temps|Dew Point|Relative Humidity|Precip|Snow|Cloud cover|Pressure|Wind|Weather
2 AM|25°C|3°C|23%|0%|0%|0%|1014 hPa|6 km/h ESE|
Clear
References
http://www.mcc.rsa.ru/sojuztma_07m/start.htm
http://www.federalspace.ru
http://tvroscosmos.ru
http://www.tsenki.com
http://www.samspace.ru
http://www.npoenergomash.ru/engines/
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com
http://www.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru
http://www.spacelaunchreport.com
http://english.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=44.84999847,65.50000000
), and there might be more interests in the crew activities from pre-launch training to ISS docking (you can see that the Soyuz crew usually forms a far tighter group than with the other members of the expedition).
