Tag Archives: landing

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'

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: 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.

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.

Landing, deploy antenna (Credit: NASA)

Crew departure to Houston. Landing +5.5 hours; duration of flight: 16.5 hours

NASA images

Video replay: Soyuz TMA-22 lands safely in Kazakhstan

Some three and a half hours after undocking from the International Space Station, the Soyuz TMA-22 landed safely in the Kazakh Steppe at 13:45 CEST (11:45 UT). On board were Dan Burbank, Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoli Ivanishin who returned to Earth after just over five months in space.

Watch the replay from NASA TV:

embedded by Embedded Video

André’s PromISSe mission extended

PromISSe mission logo

It's official... ESA astronaut André Kuipers will stay on ISS for a few weeks longer than originally planned. Following the delay to the launch of the next Soyuz spacecraft, the Station partners have agreed that Don Pettit, Oleg Kononenko and André will return to Earth on 1 July.

Read more on the ESA Portal:
André’s PromISSe mission extended on Space Station