Tag Archives: André Kuipers

New blog post from André: ‘I am back on Earth but the mission continues’

In his first blog entry since returning to Earth, ESA astronaut André Kuipers looks back at the intense experience of the landing and explains how the PromISSe mission hasn't quite finished for him yet.

He writes: "My return to Earth with the Soyuz was an intense experience. After undocking we conducted some tests and orbited Earth one more time. Above the South-Atlantic Ocean the braking motor fired for four minutes. 140 kms above Egypt the spacecraft separated into three parts. Above Iraq we entered the atmosphere and the air started to glow. The first part was beautiful, we were surrounded by an orange cocoon. After that the ride was simply unpleasant."

Read more in Andre's blog post: 'I am back on Earth but the mission continues'

André’s PromISSe mission continues on Earth

Post-flight testing as well as rehabilitation & debriefings for André Kuipers in the coming weeks

ESA astronaut André Kuipers is spending the next couple of weeks at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, USA, where his PromISSe mission continues with post-flight tests, revalidation and debriefings.

After arriving in Houston early on 2 July he said: "The return journey went perfectly. It was quite tough, I felt sick when I was back on Earth, and wasn't able to walk straightaway. But the care we were given was great and I soon felt better. I was able to take a long sleep in the plane on the way to America. I sat in the grass for a while during one of the stopovers. It smelt so good! I saw the sunset and thought: yes, I am home again."

The Soyuz landing, in images

ESA astronaut André Kuipers, together with his Russian Commander Oleg Kononenko and NASA astronaut Donald Pettit, landed safely on the steppes of Kazakhstan on 1 July 2012, at 10:14 CEST (08:14 UT), in their Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft.

During his six-month PromISSe mission on the International Space Station, André conducted over 50 scientific experiments in the world’s only permanent microgravity laboratory.

Credits: ESA–S. Corvaja, 2012

Video replay: Crew greeted with traditional ceremony

Expedition 31 Commander Oleg Kononenko, NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit and European Space Agency Flight Engineer Andre Kuipers were greeted in a traditional ceremony at the airport in Karaganda, Kazakhstan on 1 July 2012, hours after landing in their Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft on the steppe of Kazakhstan southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan.

After the ceremony, the crew split up, with Kononenko returning to his training base in Star City, Russia, while Pettit and Kuipers boarded a NASA plane in Karaganda to return to the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The trio completed 193 days in space and 191 days aboard the International Space Station following a launch in late December. The footage includes a short interview conducted André in Karaganda before beginning the trip back to Houston (starts at 7'51").

Video replay: Soyuz landing in Kazakhstan

Replay of today's landing of the Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft in Kazakhstan at 10:14 CEST (08:14 UT) returning Expedition 30/31 crewmembers Oleg Kononenko, André Kuipers and Don Pettit to Earth after 193 days in space.

Soyuz undocks from ISS

The Soyuz TMA-03M undocked from the International Space Station at 06:47 CEST (04:47 UT) this morning, starting the return journey to Earth for ESA astronaut André Kuipers, NASA's Don Pettit and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko. They are set to land in Kazakhstan at 10:14 CEST (08:14 UT).

Shortly after undocking from the ISS

Soyuz TMA-03M undocks from ISS

Farewells and hatch closure completed

Expedition 31 crewmembers André Kuipers, Don Pettit and Oleg Kononenko have said their farewells to the rest of the International Space Station crew and entered their Soyuz spacecraft ahead of their return to Earth. The hatches between the ISS and the Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft were closed at 03:32 CEST (01:32 UT). They will now perform leak checks of their spacecraft and are scheduled to undock from the ISS at around 06:48 CEST (04:48 UT).

Shortly before hatch closure between the ISS and the Soyuz TMA-03M (Credit NASA TV)

Watch the replay from NASA TV:

Return to Earth: the landing site

The Soyuz TMA-03M landing site is located 217 km to the southeast of the Kazakh city of Dzhezkazgan.

Watch live: Soyuz TMA-03M return to Earth

Watch the hatch closure, departure and landing of the Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft live via NASA TV.

Schedule:
03:15 CEST / 01:15 UT -- Expedition 31 farewells and hatch closure coverage (hatch closure at 03:40/01:40 UT)
06:30 CEST / 04:30 UT -- Expedition 31/Soyuz TMA-03M undocking coverage (undocking at 06:47 CEST / 04:47 UT)
09:00 CEST / 07:00 UT -- Expedition 31/Soyuz TMA-03M deorbit burn and landing coverage (deorbit burn at 09:19 CEST / 07:19 UT, landing at 10:15 CEST / 08:15 UT)

Watch on NASA TV: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/media_flash.html

Sequence of events: hatch closure to landing

The sequence of events below are as expected on 1 July for the return of the Soyuz TMA-03M with ESA astronaut André Kuipers, NASA's Don Pettit and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko. Departure starts with the undocking command at 06:50 CEST (04:50 UT) and ends with landing in Kazakhstan at 10:15 CEST (08:15 UT).

03:32 CEST (01:32 UT) - Hatch closure

06:44 CEST (04:44 UT) - Undocking command to open hooks and latches

06:47 CEST (04:47 UT) - Hooks opened / physical Separation of Soyuz TMA-03M from the Rassvet/MRM1 module at 0.12 m/s

Physical separation from Rassvet on this occasion (not Pirs) (Credit: NASA)

06:56 CEST (04:56 UT) - Separation burn from ISS (15 second burn of the Soyuz engines, 0.55 m/s; Soyuz distance from the ISS is ~15-20 metres)

09:19 CEST (07:19 UT) - Deorbit Burn (4 min 15 sec in duration, 115.2 m/sec; Soyuz distance from the ISS is ~12 km)

Deorbit burn (Credit: NASA)

09:48 CEST (07:48 UT) - Separation of modules (~23 mins after deorbit Burn; 140 km altitude; undocking command + ~2 hours, 57 mins.)

Separation of modules (Credit: NASA)

09:51 CEST (07:51 UT) - Entry interface (101.8 km altitude)

Reentry in Earth's atmosphere (Credit: NASA)

10:00 CEST (08:00 UT) - Command to open chutes (10.7 km altitude)

Two Pilot Parachutes are first deployed, the second of which extracts the Drogue
Chute. The Drogue Chute is then released, measuring 24 square meters, slowing the Soyuz down from a descent rate of 230 m/s to 80 m/s.

The main parachute is then released, covering an area of 1000 square metres; it slows the Soyuz to a descent rate of 7.2 m/s; its harnesses first allows the Soyuz to descend at an angle of 30 degrees to expel heat, then shifts the Soyuz to a straight vertical descent.

Main parachute deployed (Credit: NASA)

Appx. 2 seconds before landing - Soft Landing Engine Firing (6 engines fire to slow the Soyuz descent rate to 1.5 m/s just 0.8 meter above the ground)

Soft Landing Engine Firing (Credit: ESA)

10:15:02 CEST (08:15:02 UT/14:15:02 Kazakhstan time) - Landing (Descent take about 3 hours 24 mins) 217 km SE of Dzhezkazgan; 7 hours 1 minute before sunset at the landing site in Kazakhstan.