Soyuz TMA-11 was a human spaceflight mission using a Soyuz-TMA spacecraft to transport personnel to and from the International Space Station (ISS). The mission began at 13:22 UTC on October 10, 2007, when the spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle. It brought to the station two members of the ISS Expedition 16 crew, as well as Sheikh Muszaphar, the first Malaysian in space. TMA-11 remained at the station as an escape craft, and returned safely to Earth on April 19, 2008, after it had been replaced by Soyuz TMA-12. Although the vehicle landed safely, it suffered a partial separation failure which caused a ballistic re-entry that in turn caused it to land 475 km from the intended landing point.
 | |
| Operator | Roscosmos |
|---|---|
| COSPAR ID | 2007-045A |
| SATCAT no. | 32256 |
| Mission duration | 191 days, 19 hours, 17 minutes |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | Soyuz-TMA 11F732 |
| Manufacturer | Energia |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 3 |
| Members | Yuri Malenchenko Peggy A. Whitson |
| Launching | Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor |
| Landing | Yi So-Yeon |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | October 10, 2007, 13:22:39 UTC |
| Rocket | Soyuz-FG |
| Launch site | Baikonur 1/5 |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | April 19, 2008, 08:30 UTC |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Inclination | 51.6 degrees |
| Docking with ISS | |
| Docking port | Zarya |
| Docking date | 12 October 2007 14:50 UTC |
| Undocking date | 19 April 2008 05:06 UTC |
| Time docked | 189d 14h 16m |
 From left to right: Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, Yuri Malenchenko, Peggy Whitson Soyuz programme (Crewed missions) | |
Crew
edit| Position | Launching crew | Landing crew |
|---|---|---|
| Commander |  Yuri Malenchenko, RoscosmosExpedition 16 Fourth spaceflight | |
| Flight Engineer |  Peggy Whitson, NASAExpedition 16 Second spaceflight | |
| Spaceflight Participant |  Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, ANGKASA[3][4]Only spaceflight |
 Yi So-Yeon, KAP[1][2]Only spaceflight |
Backup crew
edit| Position | Launching crew | Landing crew |
|---|---|---|
| Commander | Salizhan Sharipov, Roscosmos
| |
| Flight Engineer | Michael Fincke, NASA
| |
| Spaceflight Participant | Faiz Khaleed, ANGKASA[5]
|
Ko San, KAP
|
Crew notes
editSheikh Muszaphar flew as a guest of the Russian government.[6] Under this program, in exchange for the multi-billion purchase of fighter jets by Malaysia, the Russian Federation bore the cost of training two Malaysians for space travel and for sending one to the ISS.
Sheikh Muszaphar's role aboard the Soyuz is referred to as a Spaceflight Participant in English-language Russian Federal Space Agency and NASA documents and press briefings.[5][7][8][9] This caused some confusion among the public, since the term Spaceflight Participant is also used for space tourists. Speaking to Malaysian media outlets, Alexander Karchava, the Russian ambassador to Malaysia, stated that Sheikh Muszaphar is a "fully-fledged cosmonaut".[10] In an interview with the Malaysian Star newspaper, Robert Gibson, a retired NASA astronaut, shared his opinion that Sheikh Muszaphar is fully qualified as an astronaut, and as such, he should be called one. Gibson also said he regarded Sheikh Muszaphar as a peer.[11]
Mission highlights
edit
The launch, which took place at 13:22 UTC (5:22 p.m. Moscow time) on October 10, 2007, "Went off successfully and without a hitch" according to a Russian official.[12] In Malaysia, crowds in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur cheered as they watched the live launch broadcast on television sets in Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square). The giant screen originally set up for this purpose failed to function properly.[13]
The Soyuz TMA-11 docking to the ISS occurred at 14:50 UTC on October 12, 2007.[14]
Ballistic reentry
editThe spacecraft landed in Kazakhstan on April 19, 2008. Similar to Soyuz TMA-1 / Expedition 6 and Soyuz TMA-10 / Expedition 15, the Soyuz performed a ballistic reentry, a reentry steeper than a normal reentry, due to a malfunction and landed 475 km from the intended landing point. This was the second such event in a row for Soyuz TMA. Although the crew were recovered with no serious injuries, the spacecraft's hatch and antenna suffered burn damage during the unusual reentry. Yi So-yeon was hospitalized after her return to South Korea. The South Korean Science Ministry stated that the astronaut had a minor injury to her neck muscles and had bruised her spinal column.[15][16] The Russian news agency Interfax reported the ship may have entered the atmosphere hatch-first.[17]
Anatoly Perminov, the head of the Russian Federal Space Agency, speculated that the ballistic reentry was connected to a Russian nautical superstition that having more women than men on a craft was unlucky.[18] The return flight of Soyuz TMA-11 was the first time two women flew together on board a Soyuz, and it was the first time women outnumbered men aboard a spacecraft since Valentina Tereshkova's solo flight in 1963. "This isn't discrimination," Perminov stated when challenged on the point. "I'm just saying that when a majority [of the crew] is female, sometimes certain kinds of unsanctioned behaviour or something else occurs." Perminov said he would try to ensure that the number of women would not exceed the number of men in the future.[19]
On May 24, 2008, the Russian Federal Space Agency announced that it had determined that during reentry, the spacecraft's service module did not separate as a result of one of five pyro-bolts malfunctioning, so it entered the atmosphere nose-first. As the craft aerobraked, the service module was eventually detached, allowing the remaining descent module to flip around 180° and place its ablative heat shield towards the peak heating.[20] The root cause of the pyro-bolt failure was not definitively determined, but the Russian investigation concluded that long-term exposure to the electrical environment surrounding the ISS may have damaged the firing system. A similar anomaly of a service module remaining attached during re-entry occurred during Soyuz 5 in 1969.
See also
edit
- Malaysian Angkasawan program
- Korean astronaut program
References
edit- ^ Cho Jin-seo (2007). "Sputnik and Arirang: 50 Years of Space Exploration and Korea". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on October 16, 2007. Retrieved October 30, 2007.
- ^ "S. Korean astronaut to fly to space station". NBC News. Associated Press. 2007. Retrieved October 30, 2007.
- ^ Shavkat Rakhmatullayev (October 10, 2007). "Russian rocket launches first Malaysian into space". Reuters. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007.
- ^ "Soyuz Craft Lands Safely in Kazakhstan". ABC News. Associated Press. 2007. Archived from the original on June 8, 2009. Retrieved October 21, 2007.
- ^ a b NASA (2007-07-17). "NASA Holds Briefing With First Female Station Commander and Crew". NASA.
- ^ William Harwood for CBS News (2007). "New crew arrives at station aboard Soyuz capsule". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved December 20, 2007.
- ^ NASA (2007). "NASA TV Coverage Set for Space Station Crew Exchange". NASA. Retrieved October 10, 2007.
- ^ MSNBC (2007). "Russian tycoon-explorer may go into space". NBC News. Retrieved October 10, 2007.
- ^ Russian Federal Space Agency (2007). "Biography of Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor in Russian Federal Space Agency Website". Russian Federal Space Agency. Archived from the original on October 27, 2007. Retrieved October 12, 2007.
- ^ theStar (2007). "Russian envoy confirms that Malaysian is not a 'mere passenger'". TheStar. Retrieved October 4, 2007.
- ^ TheStar (2007). "Malaysian a full-fledged cosmonaut, says ex-astronaut". TheStar. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007. Retrieved October 11, 2007.
- ^ Shavkat Rakhmatullayev (2007-10-10). "Russian rocket launches first Malaysian into space". Reuters. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007.
- ^ The Star (2007). "Angkasawan's restaurant staff host celebration". The Star. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007. Retrieved December 20, 2007.
- ^ Vladamir Isachenkov (2007). "Soyuz Craft Docks With International Space Station". Space.com. Retrieved December 20, 2007.
- ^ Lee Ji-yeon (30 April 2008). "Great ball of fire! Nomads saved astronauts". MSNBC. Archived from the original on 2008-05-06.
- ^ "South Korean Astronaut Hospitalized", Aviation Week, May 2, 2008
- ^ Soyuz crew was in danger during descent Archived May 1, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Jeff Foust (20 April 2008). "With partners like these…". spacepolitics.com. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
- ^ "Russian space capsule misses landing by 420 km". 19 April 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-05-10. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
- ^ "Soyuz TMA-11". spacefacts.de. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
External links
edit- National Angkasawan Programme
- "Experimental Program for ANGKASA MSM Project". RSC Energia. Archived from the original on 2019-11-08. Retrieved 2007-12-20.