Soyuz MS-17

Soyuz MS-17 is a Soyuz spaceflight planned for October 2020.[2] It will transport three crew members of the Expedition 63 crew the International Space Station. Soyuz MS-17 will be the 145th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft manned. The crew will consist of a Russian commander and a Russian and American flight engineer.[3] The mission may mark the first use of a new "ultrafast" two-orbit rendezvous flight plan with the Soyuz, which will see Soyuz MS-17 arrive at the ISS within approximately three hours of launch. [4]

Soyuz MS-17
Mission typeCrewed mission to ISS
OperatorRoscosmos
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftSoyuz MS
Spacecraft typeSoyuz MS 11F747
ManufacturerRKK Energia
Crew
Crew size3
MembersSergey Ryzhikov
Sergey Kud-Sverchkov
Kathleen Rubins
Start of mission
Launch date14 October 2020 (planned) [1]
RocketSoyuz-2.1a
Launch siteBaikonur, Site 31/6
ContractorProgress Rocket Space Centre
End of mission
Landing date17 April 2021
Landing siteKazakh Steppe
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth
Inclination51.66°
Docking with ISS
Docking portRassvet nadir
Docking date14 October 2020 (Planned)
Undocking date1 April 2021 (Planned)
Time docked170 Days (Planned)
Docking with ISS
(Relocation)
Docking portPoisk zenith
Docking date1 April 2021 (Planned)
Undocking date17 April 2021 (Planned)
Time docked17 Days (Planned)
Soyuz programme
(Crewed missions)
 

Towards the end of the flight the spacecraft will relocate from Rassvet to Poisk to make way for the arrival and docking of the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft, currently set to launch on 9 April 2021 carrying Nikolai Tikhonov, Andrei Babkin and Mark Vande Hei (or a third Russian cosmonaut) to the ISS ahead of a six-month stay. The two spacecraft will have a nine-day handover period before MS-17 departs. This is necessary to avoid de-crewing the Russian Segment of the ISS since no Russian cosmonaut will be present aboard USCV-1.[5]

Crew
Position Crew member
Commander Sergey Ryzhikov , RSA
Expedition 63
Second spaceflight
Flight Engineer 1 Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, RSA
Expedition 63
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer 2 Kathleen Rubins, NASA
Expedition 63
Second spaceflight

[6][7][8]

Backup crew
Position Crew member
Commander Oleg Novitsky, RSA
Flight Engineer 1 Pyotr Dubrov, RSA
Flight Engineer 2 Mark Vande Hei, NASA

Reserve crew
Position Crew member
Commander Anton Shkaplerov, RSA
Flight Engineer 1 Andrei Babkin, RSA

Crew notes

Early planning had listed Russian cosmonaut Nikolai Chub as the mission's Flight Engineer 2, pending a NASA decision on whether they would purchase more seats on the Soyuz. In May 2020, NASA purchased a Soyuz seat and assigned NASA astronaut Kathleen Rubins to the Flight Engineer 2 position, backed up by astronaut Mark Vande Hei.[8][9]

Originally Russian cosmonauts Anatoli Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner were set to fly as Commander and Flight Engineer 1 respectively. In February 2020, however, the two cosmonauts were moved to the Soyuz MS-16 flight due to medical issues with the commander of Soyuz MS-16, Nikolai Tikhonov. Ivanishin and Vagner were replaced by Ryzhikov and Kud-Sverchkov. Tikhonov and Babkin may fly on Soyuz MS-18.

Reacting to the COVID-19 pandemic, Roscosmos implemented a two-cosmonaut reserve crew to ensure the flight could go ahead on with no delays, in the unlikely event both the prime and backup crews fall ill. It has not been confirmed whether NASA plans to add an astronaut of their own to the reserve crew.[10]

References
  1. "Источник: НАСА хочет купить еще одно место в российском "Союзе"" [Source: NASA wants to buy another Soyuz seat] (in Russian). RIA Novosti. 22 October 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  2. Pietrobon, Steven (28 December 2018). "Russian Launch Manifest". Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  3. "ISS Expedition Reports". spacefacts.de. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  4. "Грузовой корабль "Прогресс" полетит к МКС по сверхбыстрой схеме". РИА Новости (in Russian). 20 March 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  5. "Space exploration in 2020". www.russianspaceweb.com. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  6. @anik1982space (9 May 2020). "Вот и новые составы российских экипажей «Союза МС-17» стали известны из пресс-релиза аэропорта Жуковский.
    Основной: Сергей Рыжиков, Сергей Кудь-Сверчков.
    Дублирующий: Олег Новицкий, Пётр Дубров.
    К сожалению, Николая Тихонова и Андрея Бабкина нет..."     (Tweet) (in Russian) – via Twitter.
  7. "Flight crew assignments". forum.nasaspaceflight.com. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  8. "Роскосмос подтвердил подписание контракта на доставку астронавта NASA на корабле "Союз"". ТАСС (in Russian). Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  9. "Press Release: NASA Assigns Astronaut Kate Rubins to Expedition 63/64 Space Station Crew". nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 5 June 2020. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  10. "Новости. Утвержден экипаж корабля «Союз МС-17»". www.roscosmos.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 11 June 2020.
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