Soyuz TMA-8 facts for kids
 |
|
| Operator | Roscosmos |
|---|---|
| Mission duration | 182 days |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | Soyuz-TMA 11F732 |
| Manufacturer | RKK Energia |
| Launch mass | 7,270 kilograms (16,030 lb) |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 3 |
| Members | Pavel Vinogradov Jeffrey Williams |
| Launching | Marcos Pontes |
| Landing | Anousheh Ansari |
| Callsign | Carat |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | March 30, 2006, 02:30 UTC |
| Rocket | Soyuz-FG |
| Launch site | Baikonur 1/5 |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | September 29, 2006, 01:13 UTC |
| Landing site | Kazakhstan |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Perigee | 200 kilometres (120 mi) |
| Apogee | 241 kilometres (150 mi) |
| Inclination | 51.67 degrees |
| Period | 88.64 minutes |
| Docking with ISS | |
| Docking port | Zarya nadir |
| Docking date | 1 April 2006 04:19 UTC |
| Undocking date | 28 September 2006 21:53 UTC |
| Time docked | 180d 17h 34m |
  From top to bottom: Jeffrey Williams, Marcos Pontes and Pavel Vinogradov. Soyuz programme
(Crewed missions) |
|
Soyuz TMA-8 was a space mission that took astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). It used a Soyuz spacecraft and was launched by a powerful Soyuz-FG rocket. This mission helped bring new crew members to the ISS and bring others back home.
Contents
Meet the Crew of Soyuz TMA-8
The Soyuz TMA-8 mission was important for bringing new astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). These astronauts were part of Expedition 13, which is like a team of people living and working on the space station.
The flight carried two main crew members:
- ISS Commander Pavel Vinogradov
- ISS Flight Engineer Jeffrey Williams
They went to the station to replace the Expedition 12 crew members who were already there.
Special Passengers on Soyuz TMA-8
A third person, Flight Engineer Marcos Pontes, also flew up with the Soyuz TMA-8 crew. He was the very first Brazilian in space! Marcos Pontes spent about seven days on the ISS doing science experiments. After his time in space, he returned to Earth with the Expedition 12 crew on a different spacecraft called Soyuz TMA-7.
Later, when Pavel Vinogradov and Jeffrey Williams returned to Earth, they were joined by a space tourist named Anousheh Ansari. She had launched to the ISS on Soyuz TMA-9 and spent about eight days doing experiments for the European Space Agency.
| Position | Launching crew | Landing crew |
|---|---|---|
| Commander |  Pavel Vinogradov, RKAExpedition 13 Second spaceflight |
|
| Flight Engineer |  Jeffrey Williams, NASAExpedition 13 Second spaceflight |
|
| Flight Engineer / Spaceflight Participant |  Marcos Pontes, AEBOnly spaceflight |
 / Anousheh Ansari, SAOnly spaceflight Tourist |
Backup Crew Members
Just like in many important missions, there were backup crew members ready to go if needed.
| Position | Crew | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander | Fyodor Yurchikhin, RKA |
|
| Flight Engineer | Michael Fincke, NASA |
|
| Flight Engineer | Sergei Volkov, RKA |
|
Connecting with the Space Station
The Soyuz TMA-8 spacecraft successfully connected, or "docked," with the International Space Station.
- Docked to ISS: April 1, 2006, at 04:19 UTC. It connected to the "nadir port" of the Zarya module.
- Undocked from ISS: September 28, 2006, at 21:53 UTC. It left the same port on the Zarya module.
Key Moments of the Mission
Soyuz TMA-8 was the 29th time a crewed Soyuz spacecraft flew to the ISS.
The Soyuz TMA-8 spacecraft launched on March 30, 2006. It lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan using a Soyuz-FG rocket. During the launch, there was a brief moment when Moscow Mission Control lost contact with the spacecraft. This was because a satellite link went down, but it was fixed about 10 minutes later. The crew was safe the whole time.
This mission brought two members of the Expedition 13 crew to the International Space Station. It also carried Marcos Pontes, who was the first person from Brazil to go to space. The Brazilian government paid Russia about $20 million for Marcos Pontes' flight.
The new crew members replaced the Expedition 12 crew, Commander William S. McArthur and Valery Ivanovich Tokarev. Marcos Pontes returned to Earth with the Expedition 12 crew on the Soyuz TMA-7 spacecraft.
Later, the Soyuz TMA-8 spacecraft returned to Earth with the Expedition 13 crew and space tourist Anousheh Ansari, who had arrived on Soyuz TMA-9.
See also
In Spanish: Soyuz TMA-8 para niños
