Soyuz TMA-8 was a Soyuz mission to the

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

(ISS) launched by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle.

Crew

Soyuz TMA-8 was a transport mission for portions of the

(ISS) '' Expedition 13'' crew. The flight delivered ISS Commander Pavel Vinogradov and ISS Flight Engineer Jeffrey Williams to the station to replace '' Expedition 12'' crew members. Flight Engineer

Marcos Pontes Marcos Cesar Pontes (born 11 March 1963) is a Brazilian Air Force pilot, engineer, AEB astronaut, politician and author. He became the first South American and the first Lusophone to go into space when he docked onto the International Space Sta ...

joined the TMA-8 crew for the ascent and docking with ISS, spent approximately seven days aboard the ISS conducting experiments as part of the

Missão Centenário The Missão Centenário was born of an agreement between the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) and the Roscosmos on October 18, 2005. The main objective of this treaty would be to send the first Brazilian into space, Lt. Col. Aviator Marcos Pontes. ...

, then returned to Earth with the outgoing members of ''Expedition 12'' aboard

Soyuz TMA-7 Soyuz TMA-7 (russian: Союз ТМА-7) was a transport mission for portions of the International Space Station (ISS) ''Expedition 12'' crew launched October 1, 2005. The flight delivered ISS Commander William McArthur and ISS Flight Engineer ...

. Vinogradov and Williams were joined on their return trip to Earth by Spaceflight Participant

Anousheh Ansari Anousheh Ansari ( fa, انوشه انصاری ; née Raissyan; born September 12, 1966) is an Iranian American engineer and co-founder and chairwoman of Prodea Systems. Her previous business accomplishments include serving as co-founder and CEO o ...

who launched aboard

Soyuz TMA-9 Soyuz TMA-9 was a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station (ISS) launched by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle. It was a human spaceflight mission transporting personnel to and from the ISS. It launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 18 September ...

and spent approximately eight days aboard ISS conducting experiments for 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 (120 ...

Back-up crew

Docking with ISS

*Docked to ISS: April 1, 2006, 04:19 UTC (to nadir port of

Zarya Zarya may refer to: *Zorya, personification of dawn in Slavic mythology * Zarya (antenna), a type of medium-wave broadcasting antenna used in former Soviet Union *Zarya (ISS module) is a module of the International Space Station. * ''Zarya'' (magazi ...

) *Undocked from ISS: September 28, 2006, 21:53 UTC (from nadir port of

)

Mission highlights

29th crewed flight to ISS (Flight 12S) Soyuz TMA-8 is a

Soyuz spacecraft Soyuz () is a series of spacecraft which has been in service since the 1960s, having made more than 140 flights. It was designed for the Soviet space program by the Korolev Design Bureau (now Energia). The Soyuz succeeded the Voskhod spacecr ...

which was launched on March 30, 2006 by a Soyuz-FG rocket from the

Baikonur Cosmodrome ''Baiqoñyr ğaryş ailağy'' rus, Космодром Байконур''Kosmodrom Baykonur'' , image = Baikonur Cosmodrome Soyuz launch pad.jpg , caption = The Baikonur Cosmodrome's "Gagarin's Start" Soyuz ...

. Near the end of second stage burn, a communications blackout occurred at Moscow Mission Control. A satellite link was lost, but was restored about 10 minutes later. The crew was safe throughout the loss of communications. The spacecraft carried two members of the Expedition 13 crew to the

, together with

, the first Brazilian in space. The Brazilian government paid Russia approximately $20 million ( USD) for Pontes' flight. They replaced the Expedition 12 crew, Commander William McArthur and Valery Ivanovich Tokarev. Together with the Expedition 12 crew,

returned to Earth on board

. Soyuz TMA-8 returned to Earth, together with Expedition 13, the spaceflight participant launched with

, Anousheh Ansari.

References

External links