Soyuz TMA-11
Encyclopedia
Soyuz TMA-11 was a human spaceflight
mission using a Soyuz-TMA
spacecraft to transport personnel to and from the International Space Station
(ISS). The mission began at 13:22 UTC on October 10, 2007 when the spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome
by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle. It brought to the station two members of the ISS Expedition 16
crew, as well as Sheikh Muszaphar
, the first Malaysian in space. TMA-11 remained at the station as an escape craft, and returned safely to Earth on April 19, 2008, after it had been replaced by Soyuz TMA-12
. Although the vehicle landed safely, it suffered a partial separation failure which caused a ballistic re-entry that in turn caused it to land 475 km from the intended landing point.
Sheikh Muszaphar's role aboard the Soyuz is referred to as a Spaceflight Participant
in English-language Russian Federal Space Agency
and NASA
documents and press briefings.
This caused some confusion among the public, since the term Spaceflight Participant is also used for space tourists. Speaking to Malaysian media outlets, Alexander Karchava, the Russian ambassador to Malaysia, stated that Sheikh Muszaphar is a "fully-fledged cosmonaut
". In an interview with the Malaysian Star newspaper, Robert Gibson
, a retired NASA astronaut, shared his opinion that Sheikh Muszaphar is fully qualified as an astronaut, and as such, he should be called one. Gibson also said he regarded Sheikh Muszaphar as a peer.
cheered as they watched the live launch broadcast on television sets in Dataran Merdeka
(Independence Square). The giant screen originally set up for this purpose failed to function properly.
The Soyuz TMA-11 docking to the ISS occurred at 14:50 UTC on October 12, 2007.
solo flight
in 1963.
The spacecraft landed in Kazakhstan
on April 19, 2008. Similar to Soyuz TMA-1
/ Expedition 6
and Soyuz TMA-10
/ Expedition 15
, the Soyuz performed a ballistic reentry
, a reentry steeper than a normal reentry
, due to a malfunction and landed 475 km from intended landing point. This is the second such event in a row for Soyuz TMA. Although the crew were recovered with no injuries, the spacecraft's hatch and antenna suffered burn damage during the unusual reentry. Yi So-Yeon
was hospitalized after her return to South Korea due injuries caused by the rough return voyage in the Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft. The South Korean Science Ministry stated that the astronaut had a minor injury to her neck muscles and had bruised her spinal column.The Russian news agency Interfax reported the ship may have entered the atmosphere hatch first.
Anatoly Perminov
, the head of the Russian Federal Space Agency
, speculated that the ballistic reentry was connected to a Russian nautical superstition that having more women than men on a craft was unlucky. "This isn't discrimination," he stated when challenged on the point. "I'm just saying that when a majority [of the crew] is female, sometimes certain kinds of unsanctioned behaviour or something else occurs." Perminov said he would try to ensure that the number of women would not exceed the number of men in the future.
It has been reported that the unusual re-entry may have been caused by the failure of the service module to fully separate from the descent module. A similar anomaly occurred during the re-entry of Soyuz 5
in 1969. Later investigation confirmed that the reason for unusual re-entry was failure for the service module to separate normally which was a result of pyro-bolt malfunction.
Human spaceflight
Human spaceflight is spaceflight with humans on the spacecraft. When a spacecraft is manned, it can be piloted directly, as opposed to machine or robotic space probes and remotely-controlled satellites....
mission using a Soyuz-TMA
Soyuz-TMA
The Soyuz-TMA is a recent revision of the Soyuz spacecraft, superseded in 2010 by the Soyuz TMA-M..It is used by the Russian Federal Space Agency for human spaceflight...
spacecraft to transport personnel to and from the International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
(ISS). The mission began at 13:22 UTC on October 10, 2007 when the spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome
Baikonur Cosmodrome
The Baikonur Cosmodrome , also called Tyuratam, is the world's first and largest operational space launch facility. It is located in the desert steppe of Kazakhstan, about east of the Aral Sea, north of the Syr Darya river, near Tyuratam railway station, at 90 meters above sea level...
by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle. It brought to the station two members of the ISS Expedition 16
Expedition 16
Expedition 16 was the 16th expedition to the International Space Station .The first two crew members, Yuri Malenchenko and Peggy Whitson, launched on 10 October 2007, aboard Soyuz TMA-11, and were joined by spaceflight participant Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, the first Malaysian in space.Expedition 15...
crew, as well as Sheikh Muszaphar
Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor
Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor is a Malaysian orthopaedic surgeon and was the first Malaysian to go into space. He was launched to the International Space Station aboard Soyuz TMA-11 with the Expedition 16 crew on October 10, 2007...
, the first Malaysian in space. TMA-11 remained at the station as an escape craft, and returned safely to Earth on April 19, 2008, after it had been replaced by Soyuz TMA-12
Soyuz TMA-12
Soyuz TMA-12 was a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station which was launched by a Soyuz FG rocket at 11:16 UTC on 8 April 2008. It docked to the Pirs module of the station on 10 April 2008. Landing occurred at 03:37 on 24 October...
. Although the vehicle landed safely, it suffered a partial separation failure which caused a ballistic re-entry that in turn caused it to land 475 km from the intended landing point.
Crew
Backup crew
Crew notes
Sheikh Muszaphar flew as a guest of the Russian government. Under this program, in exchange for the multi-billion purchase of fighter jets by Malaysia, the Russian Federation bore the cost of training two Malaysians for space travel and for sending one to the ISS.Sheikh Muszaphar's role aboard the Soyuz is referred to as a Spaceflight Participant
Spaceflight participant
Spaceflight participant is the term used by National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Russian Federal Space Agency for people who travel aboard space missions coordinated by those agencies who are not part of the crew...
in English-language Russian Federal Space Agency
Russian Federal Space Agency
The Russian Federal Space Agency , commonly called Roscosmos and abbreviated as FKA and RKA , is the government agency responsible for the Russian space science program and general aerospace research. It was previously the Russian Aviation and Space Agency .Headquarters of Roscosmos are located...
and NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
documents and press briefings.
This caused some confusion among the public, since the term Spaceflight Participant is also used for space tourists. Speaking to Malaysian media outlets, Alexander Karchava, the Russian ambassador to Malaysia, stated that Sheikh Muszaphar is a "fully-fledged cosmonaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
". In an interview with the Malaysian Star newspaper, Robert Gibson
Robert L. Gibson
Robert Lee "Hoot" Gibson is a retired Captain and Naval Aviator in the United States Navy and a retired NASA astronaut.-Personal:...
, a retired NASA astronaut, shared his opinion that Sheikh Muszaphar is fully qualified as an astronaut, and as such, he should be called one. Gibson also said he regarded Sheikh Muszaphar as a peer.
Mission highlights
The launch, which took place at 13:22 UTC (05:22 p.m. Moscow time) on October 10, 2007, "Went off successfully and without a hitch" according to a Russian official. In Malaysia, crowds in the capital city of Kuala LumpurKuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
cheered as they watched the live launch broadcast on television sets in Dataran Merdeka
Dataran Merdeka
Merdeka Square is located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is situated in front of the Sultan Abdul Samad Building. It was here the Union Flag was lowered and the Malayan flag hoisted for the first time at midnight on August 31, 1957...
(Independence Square). The giant screen originally set up for this purpose failed to function properly.
The Soyuz TMA-11 docking to the ISS occurred at 14:50 UTC on October 12, 2007.
Ballistic reentry
The return flight of Soyuz TMA-11 was the first time two women flew together on board a Soyuz and it was the first time women outnumbered men aboard a spacecraft since Valentina Tereshkova'sValentina Tereshkova
Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova is a retired Soviet cosmonaut, and was the first woman in space. She was selected out of more than four hundred applicants, and then out of five finalists, to pilot Vostok 6 on the 16 June, 1963, becoming both the first woman and the first civilian to fly in...
solo flight
Vostok 6
-Backup crew:-Reserve crew:Vostok VI-Mission parameters:*Mass: *Apogee: *Perigee: *Inclination: 64.9°*Period: 87.8 minutes9090...
in 1963.
The spacecraft landed in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
on April 19, 2008. Similar to Soyuz TMA-1
Soyuz TMA-1
-Mission parameters:*Mass: 7,220 kg , gross *Perigee: 193 km *Apogee: 235 km *Inclination: 51.6° *Period: 88.7 minutes-Docking with ISS:*Docked to ISS: November 1, 2002, 05:01 UTC...
/ Expedition 6
Expedition 6
Expedition 6 was the sixth expedition to the International Space Station. It was the last three man crew to reside on the station until the arrival of STS-121...
and Soyuz TMA-10
Soyuz TMA-10
Soyuz TMA-10 was a human spaceflight mission using a Soyuz-TMA spacecraft to transport personnel to and from the International Space Station . The mission began at 17:31:09 UTC on April 7, 2007 when the spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle...
/ Expedition 15
Expedition 15
Expedition 15 was the 15th expedition to the International Space Station . Four crew members participated in the expedition, although for most of the expedition's duration only three were on the station at any one time...
, the Soyuz performed a ballistic reentry
Ballistic reentry
A ballistic reentry is a type of atmospheric reentry of an artificial vehicle that relies solely on drag within the atmosphere to slow the vehicle....
, a reentry steeper than a normal reentry
Atmospheric reentry
Atmospheric entry is the movement of human-made or natural objects as they enter the atmosphere of a celestial body from outer space—in the case of Earth from an altitude above the Kármán Line,...
, due to a malfunction and landed 475 km from intended landing point. This is the second such event in a row for Soyuz TMA. Although the crew were recovered with no injuries, the spacecraft's hatch and antenna suffered burn damage during the unusual reentry. Yi So-Yeon
Yi So-yeon
Yi So-yeon is a South Korean scientist and Ph.D. graduate of KAIST . On April 8, 2008, she became the first Korean and the second Asian woman to fly in space, after Chiaki Mukai.-Biography:Yi So-yeon was born to father Yi Gil-soo...
was hospitalized after her return to South Korea due injuries caused by the rough return voyage in the Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft. The South Korean Science Ministry stated that the astronaut had a minor injury to her neck muscles and had bruised her spinal column.The Russian news agency Interfax reported the ship may have entered the atmosphere hatch first.
Anatoly Perminov
Anatoly Perminov
Dr. Prof. Anatoly Nikolayevich Perminov is a Russian rocket scientist and a mechanical engineer. He served as the General Director of Russian Federal Space Agency in 2004–2011.-Career:...
, the head of the Russian Federal Space Agency
Russian Federal Space Agency
The Russian Federal Space Agency , commonly called Roscosmos and abbreviated as FKA and RKA , is the government agency responsible for the Russian space science program and general aerospace research. It was previously the Russian Aviation and Space Agency .Headquarters of Roscosmos are located...
, speculated that the ballistic reentry was connected to a Russian nautical superstition that having more women than men on a craft was unlucky. "This isn't discrimination," he stated when challenged on the point. "I'm just saying that when a majority [of the crew] is female, sometimes certain kinds of unsanctioned behaviour or something else occurs." Perminov said he would try to ensure that the number of women would not exceed the number of men in the future.
It has been reported that the unusual re-entry may have been caused by the failure of the service module to fully separate from the descent module. A similar anomaly occurred during the re-entry of Soyuz 5
Soyuz 5
Soyuz 5 was a Soyuz mission using the Soyuz 7K-OK spacecraft launched by the Soviet Union on January 15, 1969, which docked with Soyuz 4 in orbit...
in 1969. Later investigation confirmed that the reason for unusual re-entry was failure for the service module to separate normally which was a result of pyro-bolt malfunction.