Soyuz TMA-16M report
The One Year Expedition!
As the ISS became one of the most versatile base camp for human presence in space, it is only natural that this is the place to prepare for human's next steps in space.
One of the most important research topics on hand is the effects of long term stays in zero-G on the human body, and up to now most of these studies were for periods of a few months.
Today marks a leap in this aspect when Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko will plan to stay at the ISS for one year. While such long stays have happened many years ago (notably Valeri Polyakov's 439 days on Mir between January 1994 and March 1995), it has yet to happen during the history of the ISS. And unlike the Russian efforts on Mir, the methodology of studying the physical and psychological effects on long term periods in space has improved a lot. Thus their stay till March 2016 will be a landmark in space biological science.
And as we all know, Scott Kelly will already have an experimental reference on Earth - his twin brother ex-astronaut Mark Kelly! They two will experience comparative genetic studies that will compare their body conditions for the next 5 years to find the effects of staying in space for such a long time.
Don't forget the third crew member in this expedition - extreme veteran cosmonaut Gennady Padalka! Being his
5th expedition to a space station (1 on Mir, 4th on ISS), he will break the record for the most cumulative time spent in space by any human after the 6 month stay, up to about 870 days. (current record is 803 days by the legendary Sergei Krikalyov) And apparently he said he wanted to do a 6th stay to break the 1000 day record! Talk about courage!
Best wishes for their dispatch!
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/AEDT (UTC+11)
|
Baikonur / UTC+6
|
Moscow / MSKS (UTC+3)
|
Universal / UTC
|
Washington / EDT (UTC-4)
Launch time (Primary):
|
06:42:57
|
01:42:57
|
22:42:57
|
19:42:57
|
15:42:57
on:
|
Mar. 28, 2015
|
Mar. 28, 2015
|
Mar. 27, 2015
|
Mar. 27, 2015
|
Mar. 27, 2015
Launch time (Backup):
|
05:57:49
|
00:57:49
|
21:57:49
|
18:57:49
|
14:57:49
on:
|
Mar. 30, 2015
|
Mar. 30, 2015
|
Mar. 29, 2015
|
Mar. 29, 2015
|
Mar. 29, 2015
{colsp=6}
[highlight][eventTimer]2015-03-27 19:42:57?before|after;%dd% Days %hh% Hours %mm% Minutes %ss% Seconds %c%[/eventTimer] Soyuz TMA-16M Launch[/highlight]
{colsp=5}Docking times
Time Zone
|
Australia - Sydney/AEDT (UTC+11)
|
Moscow / MSKS (UTC+3)/
|
Universal / UTC
|
Washington / EDT (UTC-4)
Docking time (Primary):
|
12:36 +-3 min
|
04:36 +-3 min
|
01:36 +-3 min
|
21:36 +-3 min
on:
|
Mar. 28, 2015
|
Mar. 28, 2015
|
Mar. 28, 2015
|
Mar. 27, 2015
Docking time (Backup):
|
07:38 +-3 min
|
23:38 +-3 min
|
20:38 +-3 min
|
16:38 +-3 min
on:
|
Apr. 1, 2015
|
Mar. 31, 2015
|
Mar. 31, 2015
|
Mar. 31, 2015
{colsp=5}
[highlight][eventTimer]2015-03-28 01:36:00?before|after;%dd% Days %hh% Hours %mm% Minutes %ss% Seconds %c%[/eventTimer] Soyuz TMA-16M docking to ISS[/highlight]
Live Coverage Of The Launch:
Soyuz TMA-16M (industry id 11F747 #716, NASA id Soyuz 42S) manned spaceship
The crew:
|
|
Commander Gennady Padalka, Roscosmos (previous flight experience: Soyuz TM-28 / Mir Exp. 26, Soyuz TMA-4 / ISS Exp. 9, Soyuz TMA-14 / ISS Exp. 19/20, Soyuz TMA-04M / ISS Exp. 31/32)
|
Flight Engineer Mikhail Kornienko, Roscosmos(previous flight experience: Soyuz TMA-18 / ISS Exp. 23/24)
|
Flight Engineer Scott Kelly, NASA (previous flight experience: STS-103, STS-118, Soyuz TMA-01M / ISS Exp. 25/26)
The mission patch:
Mission Profile
Ascent Chart:
1. Approach and Docking Chart:
The times below are Moscow Time (UTC+3), commas separate fractional part of numbers:
Expected time of spacecraft separation: 22:51:45.26
2. Orbital Parameters of Soyuz TMA-16M and the ISS
Parameter|Designation|Soyuz TMA-16M at 27/03|ISS at 28/03
Orbital Period|T, min|88.64 +-0.367|92.52
Inclination|i, degrees|51.67 +-0.058|51.67
Min altitude|h, km|200 +7 -22|396.86
Max altitude|H, km|242 +-42|421.42
Phase angle between the space ship and the ISS is about 23.9 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
27.03.15|23:25:28|1|33.05|82.0|89.78|51.65|226.36|312.98
28.03.15|0:09:36|2|25.53|63.0|90.67|51.65|305.46|331.96
28.03.15|0:46:45|2|7.00|18.2|90.92|51.67|306.28|347.16
28.03.15|1:17:02|2|7.00|18.1|91.16|51.64|326.15|350.03
Autonomous approach program is initiated at 2:27:39.
4. Approach at the Close range
Fly-around, station keeping and docking will be initiated at 4:11:28 on March 28, 2015.
5. Docking
Contact and capture is planned on March 28, 2015 at 04:36 +-3 min.
Docking is performed to MRM-2 Poisk +Y docking node
Launch Vehicle:
{colsp=2}Characteristics
|
{colsp=2}
Soyuz-FG
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/log2015.html#rate:
Code:
================================================================
Vehicle Successes/Tries Realzd Pred Consc. Last Dates
Rate Rate* Succes Fail
================================================================
Soyuz-FG 40 40 1.00 .98 40 None 2001-
Weather forecast for Baikonur, Kazakhstan on March 28, 2015 (2 a.m.)
Mainly cloudy with snow showers around in the morning. High 1C. Winds NNE at 25 to 40 km/h. Chance of snow 40%.
Time|Temps|Dew Point|Relative Humidity|Precip|Snow|Cloud cover|Pressure|Wind|Weather
2 AM|0°C|-6°C|66%|0%|0%|23%|1025 hPa|6 km/h WSW|
Clear
References
http://www.mcc.rsa.ru/sojuztma_16m/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/q/locid:KZXX0055
