posted 12-13-2015 08:08 AM               

Soyuz TMA-19M poised for launch

Soyuz TMA-19M commander Yuri Malenchenko of Roscosmos, along with flight engineers Tim Kopra of NASA and British astronaut Tim Peake of the European Space Agency (ESA) are set to launch to the International Space Station on Tuesday (Dec. 15) at 5:03 a.m. CST (1103 GMT or 5:03 p.m. local) from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov

They will dock their Soyuz to the space station's Rassvet module at 11:24 a.m. CST (1724 GMT) following a four-orbit rendezvous.

About two hours later, the hatches between Soyuz TMA-19M and the station will open and Malenchenko, Kopra and Peake will be greeted by ISS Expedition 46 commander Scott Kelly and flight engineers Mikhail Kornienko and Sergei Volkov. Kelly and Kornienko are within the last 100 days of an almost yearlong mission, having arrived at the orbiting laboratory last March.

Malenchenko, Kopra and Peake will stay on the space station through early June.

On Sunday (Dec. 13), the Soyuz-FG rocket topped with the TMA-19M spacecraft was rolled out to the launch pad by train and erected into position.

Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

See here to discuss the Soyuz TMA-19M mission to the space station.

posted 12-15-2015 05:15 AM               

First 'official' Brit launches with American and Russian to space station

Britain's first "official" astronaut launched to the International Space Station Tuesday morning (Dec. 15), joining veteran Russian and American crew members for a six-month mission.

Tim Peake, the UK's first representative in the European Space Agency's (ESA) astronaut corps, lifted off with Yuri Malenchenko of Roscosmos and Tim Kopra of NASA on the Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft atop a Soyuz-FG rocket at 5:03 a.m. CST (1103 GMT; 5:03 p.m. local) from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The three crewmates are scheduled to dock at the orbiting outpost's Rassvet module at 11:24 a.m. CST (1724 GMT) after circling the Earth four times. Their rendezvous at the station coincides with the 50th anniversary of the very first meeting of two crewed vehicles in space, NASA's Gemini 6 and Gemini 7 capsules, in 1965.

posted 12-15-2015 11:47 AM               

Soyuz arrives at station 50 years after first space rendezvous by Gemini

Fifty years ago, two spacecraft met in orbit, achieving the world's first rendezvous between two piloted vehicles.

On Tuesday (Dec. 15), two more spacecraft did the same, but as a matter of course, underscoring the progress made in the past half century of human spaceflight.

At 11:33 a.m. CST (1733 GMT), just about six hours after it launched, Russia's Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft pulled up alongside the International Space Station, bringing a three member crew to the orbiting outpost. It was the 45th time a Soyuz had caught up with the space station and the tenth expedited rendezvous after orbiting the Earth four times.

The space capsule to space station meeting coincided with the 50th anniversary of the first-ever rendezvous between NASA's Gemini 6 and Gemini 7 spacecraft.

posted 06-18-2016 01:33 AM               

Soyuz TMA-19M undocks from space station

After nearly 186 days on the International Space Station, Tim Kopra, Tim Peake and Yuri Malenchenko undocked from the orbiting outpost on Saturday (June 18) at 12:52 a.m. CDT (0552 GMT) to begin their return to Earth.

The Soyuz will perform a four-minute, 37-second deorbit burn at 3:22 a.m. CDT (0822 GMT). The crew is scheduled to touch down at about 4:15 a.m. CDT (0915 GMT) southeast of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan.

posted 06-18-2016 04:29 AM               

Soyuz TMA-19M lands from space station with Russian, American and Brit

The United Kingdom's first government-sponsored astronaut returned from the International Space Station on Saturday, landing in Kazakhstan with a Russian cosmonaut and NASA astronaut after more than 185 days orbiting the Earth.

Tim Peake, Yuri Malenchenko and Tim Kopra, descending on board Russia's Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft, safely soft-landed at 5:15 a.m. EDT (0915 GMT; 3:15 p.m. local time). Lowered by a parachute and cushioned by a thruster firing, the trio's gumdrop-shaped capsule landed about 90 miles (146 km) southeast of the Kazakh town of Dzhezkazgan.

See here to discuss the Soyuz TMA-19M mission to the space station.