Updates ISS Soyuz flights updates

[Nicholas Kang]

A Russian Soyuz FG rocket will launch the crewed Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft into orbit for a two-day rendezvous with the International Space Station to bring the Expedition 55/56 crew to their orbital home and workplace for a half-year mission. Engineers readied a Russian Soyuz rocket for launch Wednesday to ferry a veteran cosmonaut and two NASA shuttle fliers to the International Space Station for a five-month stay.

The 7,200-Kilogram Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft will remain docked to the Poisk Module throughout the crew’s stay on ISS to act as life boat and return them to Earth at the end of their flight via parachute-assisted landing in Kazakhstan.

LIVE Broacast:

Pre-launch conference:

The Crew:

Position|Crew Member
Commander| Oleg Artemyev , RSA Expedition 55 (2nd spaceflight)
Flight Engineer 1| Andrew J. Feustel , NASA Expedition 55 (3rd spaceflight)
Flight Engineer 2| Richard R. Arnold , NASA Expedition 55 (2nd spaceflight)

Launch Profile:

Orbital Data

Launch Date: March 21, 2018
T-0 Time: 17:44:23 UTC
Launch Site: 1/5 Baikonur
Launch Vehicle: Soyuz FG
Payload: Soyuz MS-08 (No. 738)
Payload Mass: 7,220kg​

Docking

Date: March 23, 2018
Time: 19:41 UTC
Docking Port: Poisk​

Soyuz Insertion Orbit:

Perigee: 200 Kilometers (+7 /-22 km)
Apogee: 242 Kilometers (+/-42 km)
Inclination: 51.67 Degrees (+/-0.058°)
Period: 88.64 Minutes (+/-0.367min)​

Space Station Orbit:

Orbit: 403 by 406 Kilometers
Inclination: 51.64 Degrees
Period: 92.66min​

Rendezvous Profile:

Flight Milestones

March 21, 2018:

• Liftoff: 17:44:23 UTC
• Orbital Insertion & Separation From Soyuz: 17:53:13
• Two Ground-Targeted Orbit-Raising Burns on Orbit 3

March 22, 2018:

• Ground-Targeted Orbit Adjustment on Orbit 17

March 23, 2018:

• Automated Rendezvous Initiation
• KURS Automated Rendezvous System Activation
• Ballistic Targeting Point
• Flyaround
• Docking: 19:41 UTC
• Hatch Opening: 21:35 UTC

Source: Spaceflight101.com

 

[IronRain]

Launch success:

 

[GLS]

JUST missed the launch of Expedition 56... :facepalm:
Youtube live streams seek back ftw!

All good so far, and now there's an external camera.

---------- Post added at 12:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:22 PM ----------

Orbit insertion!
AWESOME view of the Block I tumbling away.

---------- Post added at 12:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:27 PM ----------

Watch until the end for the tumbling Block I.

 

[Urwumpe]

Just watched the launch with coworkers. :thumbup:

Really some nice views during the launch, also seeing the payload fairing separate was something I did not see yet from a Soyuz.

 

[ljetibo]

From [ame="https://twitter.com/Astro_Feustel/status/1005258340203745280"]Feustel's twitter[/ame] an amazing image of Soyuz approaching the ISS for docking yesterday.

Wasn't sure which thread this should belong to exactly, here or ISS so move it if it's wrong.

 

[IronRain]

Really some nice views during the launch, also seeing the payload fairing separate was something I did not see yet from a Soyuz.

And we're not done yet:

This unique video shows a full launch of the Soyuz MS-09: from liftoff to orbit.

Watch the launch from inside the crew capsule with first-ever shots from outside the spacecraft recorded by cameras fixed to the exterior of the Soyuz.

The intense launch lasts less than ten minutes whereby the Soyuz spacecraft is propelled 1640 km and gains 210 km altitude. Every second for nine minutes, the spacecraft accelerates 50 km/h on average as the rocket’s boosters burn their fuel and are discarded.
See the astronaut’s reactions and what the spacecraft looks like as the main steps are carried out to get into orbit:

-00:12 Launch command issued
-00:10 Engine turbopumps at flight speed
-00:05 Engines at maximum thrust
00:00 Launch
+1:54 Separation of emergency rescue system
+1:57 First stage separation
+2:38 Fairing separation
+4:48 Second stage separation
+4:58 Tail adapter separation
+8:45 Third stage engine cut off having arrived in orbit
+8:49 Soyuz separation, deploy solar arrays and antennae

The astronauts, from left to right, are NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor, Roscosmos commander Sergei Prokopyev and ESA astronaut and flight engineer Alexander Gerst launched in the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station on 6 June 2018. ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer and ESA television host Richard Hollingham provide commentary taken from the live event.

Hunched in their Sokol flight suits that offer protection in case of fire or depressurisation, the trio stay in the crew capsule of the Soyuz – the only module that is also designed to survive a return to Earth. The bags above their heads contain supplies for the International Space Station as every bit of space is used.

During a Soyuz launch astronauts typically experience forces of up to 4g – having to work while being pressed into their seats with a force that is four times more than the gravity felt on Earth. The Soyuz commander uses a stick to press buttons as they are too far away from the control panel.

The fluffy toys above the astronauts’ heads are mascots and good luck charms but also serve as a simple but effective test to see when the spacecraft is in orbit: when they start to float the spacecraft is weightless and orbiting Earth. Above Sergei is the mascot for the 2018 FIFA soccer World Cup held in Russia. Alexander took German children television icon “Die Maus” with him.

The launch went as planned as the 50-m tall Soyuz rocket propelled the astronauts to their cruising speed of around 28 800 km/h.
For this launch the astronauts took 34 orbits of Earth over two days to arrive at their destination spending their time in the cramped orbital module of the Soyuz that is no larger than a car. With limited communications and living space the astronauts had time to adapt to weightlessness and reflect on their mission ahead. They aligned their spacecraft with the International Space Station and approached the orbital outpost for docking on 8 June 2018. The files for this video were downloaded by the astronauts after arriving at the Space Station.

Alexander is a returning visitor to the International Space Station, the first of ESA’s 2009 class of astronauts to be sent into space for a second time. During the second part of his mission Alexander will take over as commander of the International Space Station, only the second time an ESA astronaut will take on this role so far.

Credits: ESA / NASA / Roscosmos

 

[IronRain]

Progress freighter completes fastest-ever trip to International Space Station

A Russian Progress resupply and refueling craft launched Monday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, riding a Soyuz booster into orbit on a perfectly-timed departure that set the stage for an on-target docking with the International Space Station less than four hours later.

The Progress MS-09 cargo carrier lifted off atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket at 2151:34 GMT (5:51:34 p.m. EDT) Monday from the historic spaceport on the Kazakh steppe. Riding nearly a million pounds of thrust, the Soyuz rocket tilted toward the northeast, quickly exceeding the speed of sound and casting an orange glow over the Baikonur Cosmodrome, where liftoff occurred at 3:51 a.m. local time Tuesday.

The three-stage Soyuz rocket released the Progress MS-09 spacecraft around nine minutes later. Following pre-programmed commands, the cargo craft promptly extended its power-generating solar panels and navigation antennas.

[...]

Source:
Spaceflightnow

 

[IronRain]

And 4 hours later:

[ame="https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1016497049515130882"]NASA on Twitter: "ARRIVAL! Traveling about 250 miles over the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, the unpiloted Russian Progress 70 cargo ship docked to the @Space_Station at 9:31pm ET. Watch: https://t.co/mzKW5uDsTi… https://t.co/nNfdI3wcgp"[/ame]

Love those HD cameras.

 

[regula50]

Soyuz MS-11 in six days

Soyuz MS-11 planned to be launched Dec 3, 2018 from Baikonur 1/5.
58th Expedition with CO Oleg Kononenko in his fourth spaceflight, David Saint-Jacques from the Canadian CSA and Anne McClain from NASA.
The rocket: Soyuz FG.

By this days: Progress MS-10 docked with Zvezda aft on Nov 18, 2018 at 19:28 UTC. 2564 kg of cargo and supplies to the International Space Station. The spacecraft deliver food, fuel and supplies, including about 750 kg of propellant, 75 kg of oxygen and air, 440 kg of water.
MS-10 launched with FG and not like the lastest with Soyuz 2.1a.

From Jun 8, 2018 CO Sergey Prokopyev, Alexander Gerst from ESA in his second spaceflight and Serena M. Auñón-Chancellor from NASA in ISS.
Return to the earth(planned): December 20, 2018.

From two days at Baikonur:

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Wow, they closed on the MS-10 mishap pretty quickly. I thought there would be a much longer grounding.

 

[GLS]

Wow, they closed on the MS-10 mishap pretty quickly. I thought there would be a much longer grounding.

A 60 year old system doesn't get to that "age" if it has many design flaws, so it had to be a manufacturing or, as it turned out, an assembly issue, and those are much quicker to fix.

 

[regula50]

Soyuz FG:

"Since 30 October 2002, Soyuz-FG has been the only vehicle used by the Russian Federal Space Agency to launch Soyuz-TMA and Soyuz-MS manned spacecraft to the ISS. The Soyuz-FG performed 64 successful launches until its first failure on 11 October 2018 with the Soyuz MS-10 mission".


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz-FG

 

[GLS]

Just over 90 minutes to launch of Soyuz MS-11, with docking planned for 6 hours later.

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Orbit insertion, after a beautiful sunset liftoff!
ISS is now 6 hours away!

 

[Yuri_Gagarin]

Who watched it live. I did.

 

[GLS]

 

[GLS]

On board view of Soyuz MS-11 launch:
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztet-6U20H4"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztet-6U20H4[/ame]
Weird video system, doesn't record in real time but apparently in constant data rate, so the framerate drops when the view gets dynamic. :S