Soyuz TMA-9 was a

Soyuz Soyuz is a transliteration of the Cyrillic text Союз ( Russian and Ukrainian, 'Union'). It can refer to any union, such as a trade union (''profsoyuz'') or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Сою́з Сове́тских Социалис ...

mission to the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...

(ISS) launched by a

Soyuz FG The Soyuz-FG launch vehicle was an improved version of the Soyuz-U from the R-7 (rocket family), R-7 family of rockets, designed and constructed by TsSKB-Progress in Samara, Russia. Guidance, navigation, and control system was developed and ma ...

launch vehicle. It was a

human spaceflight Human spaceflight (also referred to as manned spaceflight or crewed spaceflight) is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be ...

mission transporting personnel to and from the ISS. It launched from the

Baikonur Cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome ( kk, Байқоңыр ғарыш айлағы, translit=Baiqoñyr ğaryş ailağy, ; russian: Космодром Байконур, translit=Kosmodrom Baykonur, ) is a spaceport in an area of southern Kazakhstan leased to R ...

on 18 September 2006 at 08:09 MSD (04:09 UTC), docked with the ISS at 09:21 MSD (05:21 UTC) on 20 September, and returned to Earth on 21 April 2007. Soyuz TMA-9 transported two-thirds of ISS

Expedition 14 Expedition 14 was the 14th expedition to the International Space Station (ISS). Commander Michael López-Alegría, and flight engineer Mikhail Tyurin launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on 18 September 2006, 04:09 UTC, aboard Soyuz TMA-9. They jo ...

to the space station along with one "spaceflight participant" who performed several experiments on behalf of the

European Space Agency , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...

Crew

Crew notes

Daisuke Enomoto is a Japanese businessman and former livedoor executive who hoped to become the fourth space tourist. He had trained at Star City, Moscow in Russia to fly with two members of Expedition 14 on board Soyuz TMA-9, which was launched on September 18, ...

was originally scheduled to be the spaceflight participant, but on 21 August 2006, he was determined to be unfit for the flight due to medical reasons, and replaced by Anousheh Ansari, his back-up crew member.

Docking with ISS

*Docked to ISS: 20 September 2006, 05:21 UTC (to aft port of Zvezda) *Undocking from ISS: 10 October 2006 19:14 UTC (from aft port of Zvezda) *Docking to ISS: 10 October 2006 19:34 UTC (to nadir port of Zarya) *Undocking from ISS: 29 March 2007 23:30 UTC (from nadir port of Zarya) *Docking to ISS: 29 March 2007 23:54 UTC (to aft port of Zvezda) *Undocking from ISS: 21 April 2007 09:11 UTC (from aft port of Zvezda)

Mission highlights

Soyuz TMA-9, known within the

program as ''ISS Soyuz 13'', was the 32nd crewed flight to the ISS. It is of note because for three days, from 18–21 September 2006, it marked the first time since before the ''Columbia'' accident that twelve humans have been in space simultaneously; three aboard the

(

Expedition 13 Expedition 13 was the 13th expedition to the International Space Station (ISS), and launched at 02:30 UTC on 30 March 2006. The expedition used the Soyuz TMA-8 spacecraft, which stayed at the station for the duration of the expedition for emerge ...

), three aboard Soyuz TMA-9, and six aboard Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'', flying mission

STS-115 STS-115 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by . It was the first assembly mission to the ISS after the ''Columbia'' disaster, following the two successful ''Return to Flight'' missions, STS-114 and STS-12 ...

. The capsule successfully launched from

in Kazakhstan on a

Soyuz-FG The Soyuz-FG launch vehicle was an improved version of the Soyuz-U from the R-7 family of rockets, designed and constructed by TsSKB-Progress in Samara, Russia. Guidance, navigation, and control system was developed and manufactured by "Polisv ...

rocket at 09:08 MDS (04:08 UTC) on Monday 18 September 2006. It successfully docked with the ISS on Wednesday 20 September to begin a six-month stay on the orbiting laboratory. Anousheh Ansari, the Spaceflight Participant launched by TMA-9, has returned to Earth safely alongside Commander

Pavel Vinogradov Pavel Vladimirovich Vinogradov (russian: Павел Владимирович Виноградов; born 31 August 1953 in Magadan, USSR) is a cosmonaut and former commander of the International Space Station. As of January 2023, he has flown in ...

and Flight Engineer Jeffrey Williams of the

crew aboard

Soyuz TMA-8 Soyuz TMA-8 was a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station (ISS) launched by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle. Crew Soyuz TMA-8 was a transport mission for portions of the International Space Station (ISS) '' Expedition 13'' crew. The fligh ...

on 29 September 2006 at 01:13 UTC. Undocking from the ISS took place at 21:53 UTC on 28 September. López-Alegría and Tyurin undocked from ISS on 21 April 2007, 09:11 UTC, and landed at 12:31:30 UTC, after a seven-month stay on the station. When the capsule landed after 215 days in space, exceeding the 210-day warranty for Soyuz TMA spacecraft, it concluded the longest flight by a Soyuz spacecraft.

References

External links

Soyuz TMA-9Soyuz TMA-9 Relocation On ISS YouTube video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soyuz TMA-09 Crewed Soyuz missions Spacecraft launched in 2006 Orbital space tourism missions Spacecraft which reentered in 2007 Spacecraft launched by Soyuz-FG rockets