posted 03-24-2009 07:01 AM               

The Soyuz rocket mated with the Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft rolled out on Tuesday morning to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Launch is scheduled for 6:49 a.m. CDT on March 26. Soyuz TMA-14 will bring ISS Expedition 19 crewmembers Roman Romanenko and Michael Barratt to the International Space Station, as well as the spaceflight participant, Charles Simonyi.

Click on photos for Flickr. Credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA

posted 03-26-2009 06:51 AM               

Soyuz TMA-14 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 6:49 a.m. CDT Thursday with International Space Station Expedition 19 crew members Gennady Padalka and Michael Barratt, along with spaceflight participant Charles Simonyi.

They are scheduled to arrive at the station at 8:14 a.m. on March 28.

Padalka, who flew under the same call sign "Altair" as he did in 2004 when he led the station's ninth crew, will be commander of Expeditions 19 and 20.

Barratt, making his first flight, will serve as a flight engineer for those two missions.

Padalka and Barratt's other crewmember, Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), arrived at the station on March 17 with space shuttle Discovery's STS-119 crew.

Simonyi, who is flying to the station under a commercial agreement with the U.S. company Space Adventures, Ltd. and the Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos, previously visited the outpost in April 2007. He is the first spaceflight participant to make a second flight to the station and will spend ten days onboard.

Simonyi will return to Earth aboard Soyuz TMA-13, currently docked at the station, on April 7 with Expedition 18 crewmembers Mike Fincke and Yuri Lonchakov, who have been on the station since October 2008.

Expedition 19 will continue science onboard the station and prepare the outpost for the arrival of three more crewmembers to form the first six-person contingent.

posted 03-28-2009 08:08 AM               

According to Russian officials speaking at a post-docking press conference, the manual docking was the result of a thruster failure, which resulted in the automated Kurs docking system directing the Soyuz to back away from the station.

Padalka, who will serve as Expedition 19's commander, arrived with flight engineer Michael Barratt and spaceflight participant Charles Simonyi.

Hatch opening between the Soyuz and station is currently scheduled for 10:45 a.m. A welcome ceremony and a safety briefing for the new arrivals will follow.

posted 03-28-2009 11:53 AM               

Space tourist Charles Simonyi was the first to float inside, followed seconds later by Expedition 19 flight engineer Michael Barratt and commander Gennady Padalka.

Greeted by the Expedition 18 crew, including commander Mike Fincke and flight engineers Yuri Lonchakov and Koichi Wakata, the space explorers took calls from the arriving crew's family, friends and respective space agency representatives.

"First happy anniversary," said Barratt to his wife of 28 years, "and thanks for letting me do all this, it was an awfully fun ride! I know we're going to miss you all, but it is going to be a terrific 200 days up here."

"We're going to be watching from down here," replied Michelle Barratt, "and we are very proud what you're doing."

posted 10-10-2009 09:31 AM               

Crews Prepare for Soyuz TMA-14 Departure

ISS Expedition 20 commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Michael Barratt will depart from the International Space Station (ISS) aboard Soyuz TMA-14 on Oct. 10, concluding their six-month stay.

Returning to Earth with them is Canadian spaceflight participant Guy Laliberté, who arrived at the station on Oct. 2 with Expedition 21 flight engineers Jeff Williams and Maxim Suraev aboard Soyuz TMA-16.

The hatches between TMA-14 and the station will be closed around 5 p.m. on Saturday with the undocking set for 8:07 p.m. and landing at 11:31 p.m. CDT.

posted 10-10-2009 06:32 PM               

Soyuz TMA-14: Hatch closure and crew farewell

The hatches between Soyuz TMA-14 and the International Space Station were closed at 5:06 p.m. CDT Saturday, October 9 following a farewell between the two spacecrafts' crew members.

The Soyuz is scheduled to undock with Expedition 20 commander Gennady Padalka and flight engineer Michael Barratt, as well as spaceflight participant Guy Laliberté, at 8:07 p.m. with a landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan at 11:31 p.m. CDT.

posted 10-10-2009 08:08 PM               

Soyuz TMA-14 undocks from the station

Soyuz TMA-14 undocked from the International Space Station at 8:07 p.m. CDT, six months and 12 days after arriving at the outpost.

Expedition 20 commander Gennady Padalka, flying under the callsign "Altair", and flight engineer Michael Barratt, together with Canadian spaceflight participant Guy Laliberté, separated from the station while flying 220 miles over northern China.

posted 10-10-2009 11:33 PM               

Soyuz TMA-14 back on Earth

Soyuz TMA-14 landed on the steppes of Kazakhstan at 11:32 p.m. CDT with Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, U.S. astronaut Michael Barratt and Canadian spaceflight participant Guy Laliberté on-board.

Credit: NASA TV

Expedition 20 crewmates Padalka and Barratt returned to Earth after 199 days in space.

Laliberté spent 11 days in orbit, nine of which were spent on-board the International Space Station.

This was the first spaceflight for Barratt and Laliberté, and the third for Padalka, bringing his total time in space to 586 days, ranking him sixth on the list of world space explorers.

Barratt is scheduled to revisit the station on NASA's final scheduled space shuttle mission, STS-133, in September 2010.

Click on photos for Flickr. Credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA

posted 10-12-2009 01:04 AM               

Rank 1 is held by Sergei Krikalev with 818 days, 9 hours, 37 minutes.

posted 10-12-2009 12:01 PM               

Expedition 20/SFP Welcome at Russian Training Base

Expedition 20 Commander Gennady Padalka, NASA Flight Engineer Mike Barratt and spacecraft participant Guy Laliberte returned to Chkalovsky Airfield near Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center at Star City, Russia, outside Moscow on October 11, hours after landing their Soyuz TMA-14 on the steppe of Kazakhstan.