Soyuz TMA-12

Soyuz TMA-12 was a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station (ISS) which was launched by a Soyuz FG rocket at 11:16 UTC on 8 April 2008. It docked to the Pirs module of the station on 10 April 2008.[2] Landing occurred at 03:37 on 24 October. It was the first nominal landing in three missions, following separation failures on the Soyuz TMA-10 and 11 spacecraft.

Soyuz TMA-12
OperatorRoskosmos
COSPAR ID2008-015A
SATCAT no.32756
Mission duration198d 16h 21m
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft typeSoyuz-TMA
ManufacturerRKK Energia
Crew
Crew size3
MembersSergey Volkov
Oleg Kononenko
LaunchingYi So-Yeon
LandingRichard Garriott
Start of mission
Launch dateApril 8, 2008, 11:16:39 (2008-04-08UTC11:16:39Z) UTC
RocketSoyuz-FG
Launch siteBaikonur 1/5
End of mission
Landing dateOctober 24, 2008, 03:37 (2008-10-24UTC03:38Z) UTC[1]
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth
Docking with ISS
Docking portPirs nadir
Docking date10 April 2008
12:57 UTC
Undocking date24 October 2008
00:16 UTC
Time docked196d 11h 19m

From left to right: Yi So-yeon, Sergey Volkov, Oleg Kononenko
Soyuz programme
(Crewed missions)
 

Crew

Position Launching crew Landing crew
Commander Sergey Volkov, RKA
Expedition 17
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko, RKA
Expedition 17
First spaceflight
Spaceflight Participant Yi So-Yeon, KAP[3]
Only spaceflight
/ Richard Garriott, SA[4]
Only spaceflight

Backup crew

Position Launching crew Landing crew
Commander Maksim Surayev, RKA
Flight Engineer Oleg Skripochka, RKA
Spaceflight Participant Ko San, KAP Nik Halik, SA[5]

Crew Notes

Yi So-yeon flew as a guest of the Russian government through the Korean Astronaut Program after the Korean government paid the Russian government 25 million US dollars in agreement to support the first Korean astronaut in space. Her role aboard the Soyuz is referred to as a Spaceflight Participant in English-language Russian Federal Space Agency and NASA documents and press briefings.[6] Ko San was originally scheduled to fly, with Yi as his backup. On 10 March 2008, it was announced that Ko breached regulations surrounding removal of books from the training centre in Russia,[7] and therefore would not be allowed to fly.[3]

Soyuz TMA-12 approaches the International Space Station for docking on 10 April 2008.

Richard Garriott flew as a private astronaut through a program run by Space Adventures. He is also referred to as a Spaceflight Participant in English-language RKA and NASA documents.

Soyuz TMA-12 saw the joined landing of the world's first two second-generation space travellers, Sergey Volkov and Richard Garriott. Volkov's father, Aleksandr Volkov, flew to space three times and visited the Salyut 7 and Mir space stations. Garriott's father, Owen Garriott, flew to space twice and visited the Skylab space station.

References

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