Updates ISS Soyuz flights updates

[Cosmic Penguin]

Well, it's the time of year for a new ISS crew! :tiphat:

The new ISS Expedition 37/38 crew will be launched on the 36th Soyuz spacecraft for the ISS program on this Wednesday. As mentioned above, veteran cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, with 2 previous ISS expedition experience in 2006 and 2010, will lead the crew for this launch.

The other two members are spaceflight rookies, but their background cannot be more different: Sergey Ryazanskiy is one of the few cosmonauts with scientific training background (he was a biochemist working in Russia's main spaceflight life science research institute) and had to wait for a decade before getting his first spaceflight assignment; NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins, on the other hand, will become the first astronaut from the "post-shuttle" 2009 astronaut class to get the spaceflight experience. An ex-Air Force Colonel, he was a C-130 and C-17 test pilot as well as being the special assistant to the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for a short time.

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): ​

|

07:58:50​

|

02:58:50​

|

00:58:50​

|

20:58:50​

|

16:58:50​

on: ​

|

Sep. 26, 2013​

|

Sep. 26, 2013​

|

Sep. 26, 2013​

|

Sep. 25, 2013​

|

Sep. 25, 2013​

Launch time (Backup): ​

|

07:13:41​

|

02:13:41​

|

00:13:41​

|

20:13:41​

|

16:13:41​

on: ​

|

Sep. 28, 2013​

|

Sep. 28, 2013​

|

Sep. 28, 2013​

|

Sep. 27, 2013​

|

Sep. 27, 2013​

{colsp=6}

[highlight][eventTimer]2013-09-25 20:58:50?before|after;%dd% Days %hh% Hours %mm% Minutes %ss% Seconds %c%[/eventTimer] Soyuz TMA-10M 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): ​

|

13:48:11 +-3 min​

|

06:48:11 +-3 min​

|

02:48:11 +-3 min​

|

22:48:11 +-3 min​

on: ​

|

Sep. 26, 2013​

|

Sep. 26, 2013​

|

Sep. 26, 2013​

|

Sep. 25, 2013​

Docking time (Backup): ​

|

09:08 +-3 min​

|

02:08 +-3 min​

|

22:08 +-3 min​

|

18:08 +-3 min​

on: ​

|

Sep. 30, 2013​

|

Sep. 30, 2013​

|

Sep. 29, 2013​

|

Sep. 29, 2013​

{colsp=6}

[highlight][eventTimer]2013-09-26 02:48:11?before|after;%dd% Days %hh% Hours %mm% Minutes %ss% Seconds %c%[/eventTimer] Soyuz TMA-10M docking to ISS[/highlight]​

Live Coverage Of The Launch:

• NASA TV: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html (coverage starts 4:00 p.m. EDT / 20:00 UTC)
• TSENKI Video Streams: http://www.tsenki.com/broadcast/broadcast/ - coverage starts at 22:00 MSKS (18:00 UTC)

Soyuz TMA-10M (industry id 11F747 #710, NASA id Soyuz 36S) manned spaceship

The crew:

|

|

Commander Oleg Kotov, Roscosmos (previous flight experience: Soyuz TMA-10 / ISS Exp. 15, Soyuz TMA-17 / ISS Exp. 22/23)​

|

Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy, Roscosmos (previous flight experience: /)​

|

Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins, NASA (previous flight experience: /)​

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: 01:07:38.26

2. Orbital Parameters of Soyuz TMA-10M and the ISS

Parameter|Designation|Soyuz TMA-10M at 26/09|ISS at 26/09
Orbital Period|T, min|88.64 +-0.367|92.81
Inclination|i, degrees|51.67 +-0.058|51.65
Min altitude|h, km|200 +7 -22|414.09
Max altitude|H, km|242 +-42|434.90

Phase angle between the space ship and the ISS is about 26.2 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
26.09.13|1:43:28|1|31.72|78.8|89.73|51.67|229.72|308.25
26.09.13|2:28:04|2|24.58|60.8|90.59|51.67|302.18|328.41
26.09.13|3:02:32|2|7.00|18.2|90.84|51.67|303.13|343.22
26.09.13|3:32:47|2|7.00|18.1|91.08|51.67|323.10|345.17

Autonomous approach program is initiated at 4:39:41.

4. Approach at the Close range

Fly-around, station keeping and docking will be initiated at 6:24:24 on September 26, 2013.

5. Docking

Contact and capture is planned on September 26, 2013 at 06:48:11 +-3 min.

Docking is performed to MRM-2 Poisk +Y docking node

Launch Vehicle:

{colsp=2}Characteristics

|

{colsp=2}

Soyuz-U​

Prime contractor:​

|

• Samara Space Sentre (Energia Holding enterprise)
  

GRAU Index:​

|

• 11A511U-FG

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:

================================================================ 
Vehicle     Successes/Tries Realzd Pred  Consc. Last     Dates    
                             Rate  Rate* Succes Fail    
================================================================
Soyuz-FG         34    34   1.00  .97     34    None     2001-

Weather forecast for Baikonur, Kazakhstan on September 26, 2013 (2 a.m.)

Partly cloudy. High of 28C. Winds less than 5 km/h.

Time|Temps|Dew Point|Relative Humidity|Precip|Snow|Cloud cover|Pressure|Wind|Weather
2 AM|20°C|8°C|45%|0%|0%|23%|1006 hPa|11 km/h WNW|

Clear

References
http://www.mcc.rsa.ru/sojuztma_10m/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

 

[N_Molson]

Tries : 34
Successes : 34
Realized rate : 1.0

Go Soyuz-FG ! :thumbup:

 

[orb]

AmericaSpace: Soyuz TMA-10M and Next ISS Crew Ready for Wednesday Launch

 

[Unstung]

The Planetary Society: "A Russian Guide to Wednesday's Союз Старт (Soyuz Launch)"

[table="head]Cyrillic phrase | English transliteration | English literal translation | English explanation | Time to launch (m:s)
Ключ на старт | Klyuch na start | Key to launch | Launch key inserted (yes, it’s a real key) | 6:15
Протяжка 1 | Pratyazhka ahdin |Tape feed 1 | Ground measurement system is activated by RUN 1 command | 5:00
Продувка | Pradoovka |Purge |Combustion chambers of side and central engine pods purged with nitrogen| 3:15
Наддув | Nadduv | Repressurization | Booster propellant tank pressurization initiated| 2:30
Протяжка 2 | Protyazhka dva | Tape feed 2 |Onboard measurement system is activated by RUN 2 command | 2:30
Дренаж | Drenazh |Drain/Vent |Vehicle oxidizer and fuel drain and safety valves closed, ground oxidizer and nitrogen filling terminated | 2:15
Пуск | Poosk | Start | Auto-sequence initiated | 1:00
Земля-борт |Zemlya-Bort| Ground-Vehicle | Vehicle to internal power, separation of third stage umbilical tower from booster | 1:00
Зажигание| Zazhiganiye | Ignition | Launch command issued for ignition, central and side pod engines turned on | 0:20
Предварительная | Pridvaritel’naya |Preliminary | Second stage umbilical tower separates | 0:15
Промежуточная | Promezhutochnaya | Intermediate | Engine turbopumps at flight speed | 0:10
Главная | Glavnaya | Main | First stage engines at maximum thrust | 0:05
Подъем | Pod`yom | Liftoff | Fueling tower separation |0:00[/table]

 

[Urwumpe]

Small correction there (The table better describes the events visible from outside though):

Предварительная refers to "Preliminary stage" of engine operation (50% stable thrust, limited by an pyrotechnic bolt in the oxidizer valve)
Промежуточная again refers to "Intermediate stage" of engine operation. Here the oxidizer valve has full authority, but there is no closed loop chamber pressure control yet.
Главная is reached shortly after lift-off signal actually, and means 100% thrust and closed loop engine chamber pressure control.

http://lpre.de/energomash/RD-107/index.htm#flow_schematic_operation


Both events are actually stable states after mechanic valve actions.

 

[N_Molson]

Launch key inserted (yes, it’s a real key)

Uuh, sorry, I forgot the key at home, in Moscow

 

[asbjos]

There is also an ESA video explaining the Soyuz launch with Orbiter footage. This has been performed yesterday at the official launch event at the European Astronaut Centre. Pretty cool, no?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0cNcC77N04

I just wanted to mention that the video has been removed and reuploaded to ESA's official YouTube channel (if I recall correctly, it was a private account hosting it before). The reason is that "There was a small detail missing in the other version to do with the credits."

Here is the new video:

Still pretty cool!

 

[Kyle]

They didn't even use D3D9!

 

[SiberianTiger]

"Ключ на старт!"

 

[Kyle]

L-5 minutes.

---------- Post added at 08:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:54 PM ----------

L-4 minutes. Soyuz and Range are GO!

---------- Post added at 08:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:55 PM ----------

L-2 minutes!

---------- Post added at 08:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:56 PM ----------

L-1 minute! Auto sequence start!

---------- Post added at 08:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:58 PM ----------

IGNITION AND LIFTOFF!

---------- Post added at 08:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:59 PM ----------

T+30 seconds, all nominal.

---------- Post added at 09:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:59 PM ----------

Staging!

---------- Post added at 09:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:01 PM ----------

Shroud jettison!

 

[SiberianTiger]

Have a good flight, Pulsars!

 

[Kyle]

S2/3 sep and ignition!

---------- Post added at 09:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:04 PM ----------

Everything looks excellent into third stage flight.

---------- Post added at 09:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:06 PM ----------

Soyuz sep and array deployment!

 

[orb]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Co-YKi5PdY"]Expedition 37/38 Launches to the International Space Station - YouTube[/ame]

 

[N_Molson]

Tries : 35, Successes 35, realized ratio 1.0

Good work Roscosmos ! :thumbup:

Docking in 4 hours 20 minutes. I'm still not used to those "fast dockings".

 

[Kyle]

Soyuz on final approach to Poisk module.

---------- Post added at 02:38 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:36 AM ----------

90 meters away from docking.

---------- Post added at 02:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:38 AM ----------

17 meters from docking.

---------- Post added at 02:45 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:43 AM ----------

Contact and capture!

 

[N_Molson]

Well done again, now the way is cleared for Cygnus

 

[orb]

Docking:

Launch replay from TV Roscosmos:

 

[SiberianTiger]

Two crews joint photo. :lol:

 

[kerlix]

Are the masks SOP? How long do they have to wear them?

 

[Shifty]

Are the masks SOP? How long do they have to wear them?

They actually all removed them as they were entering the ISS, before this photo was taken. Maybe Mission Control made them put the masks back on.