Launch News Soyuz TMA-05M, Soyuz-FG, July 15, 2012 (launch and mission updates)

[N_Molson]

Excellent. Another great manned mission, congrats to Roskosmos ! :thumbup:

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

Landing in 10 hours!

Time to bump this thread for landing! :thumbup:

MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-215

NASA TELEVISION TO AIR SOYUZ LANDING COVERAGE NOV. 18

HOUSTON -- NASA Television will provide live coverage as three of the
crew members on the International Space Station come back to Earth
Sunday, Nov. 18.

Expedition 33 Commander Sunita Williams of NASA, Flight Engineer Aki
Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Russian Soyuz
Commander Yuri Malenchenko will undock their Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft
from the station, heading for a pre-dawn landing in Kazakhstan,
northeast of the remote town of Arkalyk at 7:53 p.m. CST (7:53 a.m.
Kazakhstan time on Nov. 19). Their return will wrap up 127 days in
space since their launch from Kazakhstan on July 15, including 125
days spent aboard the station.

At the time of undocking, Expedition 34 formally will begin aboard the
station under the command of NASA's Kevin Ford. He and his crewmates,
Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin, will tend to
the station as a three-man crew for one month until the arrival of
three new crew members in December. They are Tom Marshburn of NASA,
Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency and Russian cosmonaut
Roman Romanenko.

NASA Television landing coverage will begin Saturday, Nov. 17, with
the change of command ceremony when Williams will transfer the helm
of the orbiting laboratory to Ford. Coverage will continue Nov. 18
and 19 with Expedition 33 landing and post-landing activities.

(All Times Central)

Saturday, Nov. 17:
1:15 p.m. -- Expedition 33/34 Change of Command Ceremony

Sunday, Nov. 18:
12:45 p.m. -- Farewells and hatch closure (hatch closure scheduled at
1:10 p.m.)
4:00 p.m. -- Undocking (undocking scheduled at 4:26 p.m.)
6:30 p.m. -- Deorbit burn and landing (deorbit burn scheduled at 6:58
p.m.; landing scheduled at 7:53 p.m.)
9:00 p.m. -- Video File of hatch closure, undocking and landing
activities

Monday, Nov. 19:
9:00 a.m. -- Video File of post-landing activities and interviews

For live streaming of NASA Television and program schedules, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For information on the International Space Station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

So that's:

Hatch closure: 19:10 UTC
Undocking: 22:26 UTC
De-orbit burn: 00:58 UTC
Landing: 01:53 UTC

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

For the record, the undocking was on time. Hopefully the crew won't need to wait for the rescue team for long, because the landing site is freezing cold at this time (and the pre-dawn landing time don't help, as this is the first night Soyuz landing since Soyuz TMA-7 in 2006!)

 

[orb]

Undocking video

 

[N_Molson]

Spaceflight Now : International Space Station trio comes back to Earth

[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=+2]International Space Station trio comes back to Earth[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-2]
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: November 18, 2012[/SIZE][/FONT]

Three veteran space station fliers strapped into their Soyuz ferry craft, undocked and plunged back to Earth Sunday, making a fiery descent to a frigid pre-dawn landing in Kazakhstan to close out a 127-day stay in space.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Credit: NASA TV[/SIZE][/FONT]

With Soyuz commander Yuri Malenchenko strapped into the descent module's center seat, flanked on the left by outgoing Expedition 33 commander Sunita Williams and on the right by Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, the crew undocked from the station's Russian Rassvet module at 5:26 p.m. EST (GMT-5) as the two spacecraft sailed 250 miles above northwestern China. Two-and-a-half hours later, positioned about 12 miles from the International Space Station, Malenchenko and Williams, acting as flight engineer, monitored a four-minute 43-second firing of the craft's braking rockets, slowing the ship by about 186 mph and kicking off an hour-long descent to Earth.

After a half-hour free fall, the Soyuz TMA-05M's upper module and lower instrument and propulsion section separated and three minutes later, the manned descent module fell into the discernible atmosphere at an altitude of about 63 miles.

The plunge back to Earth went smoothly, and the spacecraft's braking parachutes deployed as expected around 8:38 p.m. to slow the descent. But engineers said final events appeared to lag by a few seconds based on pre-entry predictions, resulting in a slightly off-course touchdown.

Russian recovery forces, however, remained in radio contact throughout the final stages of the descent, which was carried out in pre-dawn darkness under an overcast sky with temperatures around 12 degrees Fahrenheit. They reported touchdown at 8:56 p.m. EST (7:56 a.m. Monday local time).

Recovery crews and medical personnel quickly rushed to the spacecraft, resting on its side, to help the returning crew members out of the cramped descent module as they began their readjustment to gravity after nearly four-and-a-half months in the weightlessness of space.

All three appeared tired but in good spirits as they rested in recliners near the descent module, bundled up in blankets as they chatted with the recovery team.

The trio blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on July 15. At touchdown, Malenchenko had logged just over 641 days aloft over five flights. Hoshide's mark stood at 141 days in space during this flight and a previous shuttle mission and Williams moved up to 322 days during two flights. She now ranks second on the list of most experienced U.S. female astronauts.

Following initial medical checks, the Soyuz crew was to be flown by helicopter to Kostonay, Kazakhstan. From there, Malenchenko planned to head back to Star City near Moscow while Williams and Hoshide were expected to board a NASA jet for the long flight back to Houston.

During a brief change of command ceremony Saturday, Williams, a former Navy helicopter pilot, formally turned turned over responsibility for the lab complex to Kevin Ford and his crewmates, Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin, who arrived at the outpost Oct. 25.

"I think we've left the ship in good shape and I'm honored to hand it over to Kevin, although he's an Air Force guy and we have to make him a little more Navy because it is a ship," she said, speaking to Ford and a NASA television audience. "So I have a little present for him. This is a Navy pennant that flies over Navy ships when the commander is on board. So this is for you."

During their stay aboard the station, Williams and company took delivery of two Russian Progress supply ships, a Japanese cargo vehicle and a commercial SpaceX supply craft and staged four spacewalks, one by Malenchenko and cosmonaut Gennady Padalka and three by Williams and Hoshide. Williams now ranks fifth on the list of most experienced spacewalkers with 50 hours and 40 minutes of EVA time during seven excursions.

During the change-of-command ceremony, Ford thanked Williams and her crewmates for sharing their experience and helping the new crew members get up to speed on the intricacies of station operation.

"Between Oleg, Evgeny and I, we have all together, if you combine all of our space time, we have about three months total time in space so far," Ford said. "And if you combine the time of Suni and Aki and Yuri, they have three years of total time living in space. So they really had a lot to offer us, we learned a tremendous amount from them and they were really, really good about sharing it.

"The space station is in remarkably good condition, it's ready for full up utilization. The exercise equipment is fantastic, the facilities are fantastic, everything is in order," Ford said. "We're ready for a great expedition. We'll be here holding down the fort for maybe four or so weeks until the rest of the crew gets here and we're looking forward to doing a lot of science."
Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin will have the space station to themselves until Dec. 21 when the Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft docks, bringing veteran cosmonaut Yuri Romanenko and shuttle veterans Thomas Marshburn and Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield to the outpost.

 

[orb]

Photo Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Source: NASA HQ photos at Flickr




Source: Roscosmos​

NASAtelevision:

SpaceVidsNet:

NASA News Release: RELEASE : 12-404 - International Space Station Astronauts Land Safely in Kazakhstan

collectSPACE: Soyuz TMA-05M lands, returns three space station crewmates to Earth

CBS News Space: Soyuz brings three station fliers back to Earth (UPDATED)

SpaceRef: Soyuz TMA-05M Lands in Kazakhstan

RIA Novosti: Soyuz Lands Safely in Kazakhstan

Universe Today: Surreal Images of Soyuz Landing in the Dark

Aviation Week: Three ISS Crew Descend into Wintry Kazakhstan Aboard Soyuz Capsule

AmericaSpace: Expedition 33 Crew Return Safely to Earth

SPACE.com:

• Soyuz Spacecraft Makes Rare Night Landing with Station Crew
  
  
• Soyuz Capsule Lands with Expedition 33 Crew (Photos)

JAXA Press Release:

Return of the Soyuz Spacecraft (31S/TMA-05M)
with Astronaut Akihiko Hoshide aboard​

November 19, 2012 (JST)
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)​

The Soyuz spacecraft (31S/TMA-05M) has safely returned to Earth with astronaut Akihiko Hoshide aboard who completed his long-duration mission on the International Space Station (ISS).

Landing Date/Time:|November 19, 2012 10:56 a.m. (JST)

November 19, 2012 7:56 a.m. (Kazakhstan Time)​

Landing Location:|Republic of Kazakhstan

Crewmembers:|

Yuri Malenchenko (FSA)​

Sunita Williams (NASA)

Akihiko Hoshide (JAXA)​

Note 1: The 32nd and 33rd expedition crews (Astronauts Malenchenko, Williams, and Hoshide) stayed at the International Space Station (ISS) for 124 days.

Reference links for further information:
http://iss.jaxa.jp/iss/31s/
http://iss.jaxa.jp/iss/jaxa_exp/hoshide/
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Comment by JAXA President
Return of the Soyuz Spacecraft (31S/TMA-05M)
with Astronaut Hoshide aboard​

Today, I am delighted to announce that Astronaut Hoshide, who completed his long-duration stay on the International Space Station (ISS), has successfully landed aboard the Soyuz spacecraft (31S/TMA-05M) in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

It gives me immense pride to report that he was fully able to reap the fruits of rigorous training and complete the mission as planned on the ISS.

Following Astronaut Furukawa, who completed his mission on the ISS last year, Astronaut Hoshide has successfully completed his four-month mission, which marked the fourth long duration stay of Japanese astronauts on the ISS. His great collaborative work in connecting the H-II Transfer Vehicle "KOUNOTORI 3" (HTV3) to the ISS and in conducting extravehicular activity as the first Japanese astronaut during the long-duration stay aboard the ISS represents noteworthy progress toward our future manned space activities, while also amply demonstrating the significant role of the ISS as a venue for accumulating manned space technology of Japan.

Regarding the completed mission of Astronaut Hoshide, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all the individuals and domestic and overseas organizations concerned, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Russian Federal Space Agency (FSA), for their tremendous support.

Optimally exploiting this precious experience, we at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will further promote the manned space activity program in future through long duration missions on the ISS by Japanese astronauts, utilization of the Japanese experiment module "KIBO", and cargo transportation by launching the H-II Transfer Vehicle "KOUNOTORI" (HTV). Your continued support and cooperation will be greatly appreciated.

November 19, 2012

Keiji Tachikawa
President
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency​

 

[SiberianTiger]

Triple contrails of the Soyuz TMA-05M's capsule observed in North Caucasus last night (the time marks are MSK):

Credit: maurisio

The observer described the brightness of the visible contrail as "much brighter than Venus with its +3 mag".

 

[orb]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkf2-UJWMr8"]Expedition 33 Crew Receives a Warm Welcome in Kazakhstan and Russia - YouTube[/ame]

 

[N_Molson]

That pic of the Soyuz SA on snow lit by the headlights of the recovery team is amazing ! :blink:

 

[orbitingpluto]

In the images of the landing area there is a tall bright orange thing lighting up the surroundings. I don't have a clue what it is, so could someone tell me?

 

[SiberianTiger]

In the images of the landing area there is a tall bright orange thing lighting up the surroundings. I don't have a clue what it is, so could someone tell me?

This is an emergency inflatable lighting tower, this one is made in Russia by UralHydroServis, Chelyabinsk (http://uralgidroservis.ru/index/?node_id=523):

Can be fed from a built-in 2.7 kW petrol generator
Has a 1000 W lamp inside
Sustains up to 20 m/s wind