Soyuz MS-20 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Soyuz MS-20

Docking of Soyuz MS-20
Names	ISS 66S
Mission type	Crewed mission to ISS, Space tourism
Operator	Roscosmos
Website	http://en.roscosmos.ru/z
Mission duration	11 days, 19 hours and 34 minutes (achieved)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Soyuz MS No.752 Altair
Spacecraft type	Soyuz MS
Manufacturer	RSC Energia
Crew
Crew size	3
Members	Alexander Misurkin Yusaku Maezawa Yozo Hirano
Start of mission
Launch date	8 December 2021, 07:38:15 UTC
Rocket	Soyuz-2.1a
Launch site	Baikonur Cosmodrome, Site 31
Contractor	Progress Rocket Space Centre
End of mission
Landing date	20 December 2021, 03:13 UTC
Landing site	Kazakh Steppe, Kazakhstan
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Inclination	51.66°
Docking with ISS
Docking port	Poisk zenith
Docking date	8 December 2021, 13:40:44 UTC
Undocking date	19 December 2021, 23:50:30 UTC
Time docked	11 days, 10 hours and 9 minutes
Maezawa, Misurkin and Hirano Soyuz programme (crewed) ← Soyuz MS-19 Soyuz MS-21 →

The Soyuz MS-20 was a special Russian space mission that went to the International Space Station (ISS) on December 8, 2021. Unlike most Soyuz flights, this one did not take new astronauts to live on the ISS for a long time. Instead, it carried two space tourists along with one professional cosmonaut.

This mission was organized by a company called Space Adventures. They had already sent eight space tourists to the ISS before this flight. The journey from Earth to the ISS took about six hours.

Who Flew on Soyuz MS-20?

This mission had three people on board. One was a trained cosmonaut, and the other two were space tourists.

The Main Crew Members

Position	Crew member
Commander	Alexander Misurkin, Roscosmos Visiting Third and last spaceflight
Spaceflight participant 1	Yusaku Maezawa, Space Adventures Visiting First spaceflight
Spaceflight participant 2	Yozo Hirano, Space Adventures Visiting First spaceflight

The Backup Crew

Sometimes, a backup crew is ready in case the main crew cannot fly. Here were the backup members for this mission:

Position	Crew member
Commander	Alexander Skvortsov, Roscosmos
Spaceflight participant 1	No back-up
Spaceflight participant 2	Shun Ogiso, Space Adventures

Meet the Space Tourists

Maezawa, Misurkin and Hirano, the crew of Soyuz MS-20.

The two space tourists on Soyuz MS-20 were from Japan. They were Yusaku Maezawa and his assistant, Yozo Hirano.

Yusaku Maezawa is known for collecting art. He bought both seats on the spacecraft. This was the first time two Japanese space travelers launched together on the same mission.

There were some earlier talks about other people possibly flying on this mission. However, in May 2021, Space Adventures confirmed that Maezawa had secured the spots for himself and Hirano.

Images for kids

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  Docking of Soyuz MS-20

See also

In Spanish: Soyuz MS-20 para niños