Soyuz TMA-2

Soyuz TMA-2

Operator	Rosaviakosmos
Mission duration	184 days, 22 hours, 46 minutes, 28 seconds
Orbits completed	~3,005
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	Soyuz-TMA 11F732
Manufacturer	RKK Energia
Launch mass	7,136 kilograms (15,732 lb)
Crew
Crew size	2 up 3 down
Members	Yuri Malenchenko Edward Tsang Lu
Landing	Pedro Duque
Callsign	Agat (Agate)
Start of mission
Launch date	April 26, 2003, 03:53:52 (2003-04-26UTC03:53:52Z) UTC
Rocket	Soyuz-FG
Launch site	Baikonur 1/5
End of mission
Landing date	October 28, 2003, 02:40:20 (2003-10-28UTC02:40:21Z) UTC
Landing site	Near Arkalyk
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee	200 kilometres (120 mi)
Apogee	242 kilometres (150 mi)
Inclination	51.67 degrees
Docking with ISS
File:Soyuz TMA-2 Crew.jpg Yuri Ivanovich Malenchenko (left) and Edward Tsang Lu Soyuz programme (Manned missions) ← Soyuz TMA-1 Soyuz TMA-3 →

Soyuz TMA-2 launch

Soyuz TMA-2 was a Soyuz (Russian Союз ТМА-2, Union TMA-2) mission to the International Space Station (ISS) launched by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle. The spacecraft docked with the ISS 2003-04-28 and undocked 2003-10-27.Soyuz TMA-2 was the second flight for the TMA modification of the Soyuz spacecraft, and the 6th Soyuz to fly to the ISS.

The commander is Yuri Ivanovich Malenchenko (Russia), and flight engineer Edward Tsang Lu (USA), and after docking with the ISS they exchanged with the resident crew on ISS and became the seventh station crew, called "ISS Expedition Seven". Alexander Kaleri and Michael Foale were assigned as the backup crew.

Crew

Position	Launching crew	Landing crew
Commander	Yuri Malenchenko, RKA Expedition 7 Third spaceflight
Flight Engineer	Edward Tsang Lu, NASA Expedition 7 Third spaceflight
Flight Engineer	None	Pedro Duque, ESA Second spaceflight

Original Crew

Position	Crew
Commander	Gennady Padalka, RKA N/A (Taxi Flight) Second spaceflight
Flight Engineer	Pedro Duque, ESA N/A (Taxi Flight) Second spaceflight
Flight Engineer	Oleg Kotov N/A (Taxi Flight) First spaceflight

Mission parameters

• Mass: 7136 kg
• Perigee: 200 km
• Apogee: 250 km
• Inclination: 51.7°
• Period: 88.7 min

Docking with ISS

• Docked to ISS: April 28, 2003, 05:56 UTC (to nadir port of Zarya)
• Undocked from ISS: October 27, 2003, 23:17 UTC (from nadir port of Zarya)

Mission highlights

Originally the Soyuz missions to the ISS were all planned to be only taxi mission to deliver a new Soyuz spacecraft as the station's lifeboat every six month with a visiting crew, but not for crew exchange. Until the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster the same was planned for Soyuz TMA-2, a visiting crew consisting of commander Gennady Padalka and ESA-astronaut Pedro Duque were to spend about one week at the station and then return with the previous Soyuz TMA-1 spacecraft. The third seat might have gone to the Chilean Klaus von Storch as a Chilean space agency (Agencia Chilena del Espacio) cosmonaut, but even before the Columbia disaster it looked like his flight would not happen, and the seat would go to the Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov or to deliver freight to the station.

Soyuz TMA-2 landing

During his stay on the station, Malenchenko became the first person to get married in space. His bride was in Texas where long distance marriages are legal.

The spacecraft returned to Earth on October 28, with both the "Expedition 7" crew as well as Pedro Duque on board. Duque was launched with Soyuz TMA-3 and spent only one week on board of the ISS.

External links

• RussianSpaceWeb.com: Soyuz TMA-2
• SpaceRef.com: Soyuz TMA-2/6S Lands On Target