Soyuz TMA-21

Mission emblem
Mission dates
Mission:	Soyuz TMA-21
COSPAR-ID :	2011-012A
Spacecraft:	Soyuz 7K-STA ( GRAY index  11F732) serial number 231
Launcher:	Soyuz FG (GRAY index 11A511FG)
Call sign:	Тарханы (" Tarchany" )
Crew:	3
Begin:	April 4, 2011, 10:18:20 PM UTC
Starting place:	Baikonur 1/5
Space station:	ISS
Docking place:	Poisk
Coupling:	April 6, 2011, 23:09 UTC
Decoupling:	September 16, 2011, 0:38 UTC
Duration on the ISS :	162d 1h 29min
Landing:	September 16, 2011, 3:59 UTC
Landing place:	144 km southeast of Sheqazghan , Kazakhstan 47 ° 19 ′  N , 69 ° 30 ′  E
Flight duration:	164d 5h 39min
Team photo
v. l. To the right: Ronald Garan, Alexander Samokutajew and Andrei Borissenko
◄ Before / After ►
Soyuz TMA-20 (manned) Soyuz TMA-02M (manned)

Soyuz TMA-21 is the mission name for the flight of the Russian spacecraft Soyuz to the International Space Station (ISS). As part of the ISS program, the flight is designated ISS AF-26S. It was the 26th visit by a Soyuz spacecraft to the ISS and the 132nd flight in the Soyuz program. In honor of the 50th anniversary of the first manned space flight , the spaceship was named " Yuri Gagarin ".

crew

• Alexander Michailowitsch Samokutjajew (1st space flight), Commander, ( Russia / Roscosmos )
• Andrei Iwanowitsch Borissenko (1st spaceflight), flight engineer, (Russia / Roskosmos)
• Ronald John Garan (2nd space flight), flight engineer, ( USA / NASA )

Substitute team

• Anton Nikolajewitsch Schkaplerow (1st space flight), commander, (Russia / Roscosmos)
• Anatoli Alexejewitsch Iwanischin (1st space flight), flight engineer, (Russia / Roskosmos)
• Daniel Christopher Burbank (3rd space flight), flight engineer, (USA / NASA)

Mission history

This mission brought three crew members from ISS expeditions 27 and 28 to the International Space Station. The Soyuz spaceship replaced the Soyuz TMA-01M as an escape pod . The launch took place on April 4, 2011 at 10:18 PM UTC.

The return was originally planned for September 8, 2011, but the false start of a Soyuz rocket delayed the launch of all other spaceships, so flight control decided that the space station should remain manned by six people as long as possible. However, an extension of more than a week was not possible because otherwise it would not have been possible to land in Kazakhstan in daylight.

On September 16, 2011 at 0:38 UTC Soyuz TMA-21 undocked with Samokutjajew, Borissenko and Garan on board. This marked the beginning of Expedition 29 on the ISS with Michael Fossum as commander. The return capsule landed shortly afterwards in the steppe of Kazakhstan.

See also

• List of Soyuz missions
• List of manned space flights

Web links

Commons : Soyuz TMA-21  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Soyuz TMA-21 at spacefacts.de
• Soyuz TMA-21 on the Russian Space Web
• Soyuz TMA-21 at space.kursknet.ru (English / Russian , archived 2016)
• Soyuz TMA-21 in the Encyclopedia Astronautica (English)
• Soyuz TMA-21 in the NSSDCA Master Catalog (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ rka statistics - Soyuz program
2. ↑ Позывные экипажей советских / российских космических кораблей. astronaut.ru, March 14, 2011, accessed March 25, 2011 (Russian). 
3. ↑ ISS On-Orbit Status 01/01/11. NASA , January 1, 2011, accessed September 28, 2014 . 
4. ^ New Expedition 27 Trio Docks to Station. NASA, April 6, 2011, accessed April 7, 2011 . 
5. ^ Yembrick, Cloutier-Lemasters: NASA and its International Partners Assign Space Station Crews. NASA, October 7, 2009, accessed March 25, 2011 . 
6. ↑ Russia's Soyuz TMA-21 with new ISS crew launched from Baikonur. RIA Novosti / Sputnik News, April 5, 2011, accessed April 7, 2011 . 
7. ↑ Pete Harding: Soyuz TMA-21 returns to Earth - NASA confirms new ISS flight manifest. nasaspaceflight.com, September 15, 2011, accessed September 17, 2011 .