A little confusing at first, but the spacecraft that is inside the Soyuz rocket, where the crew is now waiting for the launch, is called the Soyuz spacecraft. For today’s launch the Soyuz spacecraft has the series name TMA-03M. This is the third in the TMA-M series and is the latest upgrade to a legendary manned vehicle. The TMA-M is informally known as the ‘digital Soyuz’, referring to the advanced flight control computer that replaces the one that had been used on it for more than 30 years.

The basic construction of the Soyuz spacecraft however remains the same – it is constructed from three parts – the orbital module, the decent module and the service module.

Soyuz spacecraft

Soyuz spacecraft

The orbital module (red)
It is used only in space and acts as living quarters, with
hygiene and sleeping facilities. Astronauts will spend two days inside it before docking.

The descent Module (yellow)
This is the only module to return to Earth and is therefore designed to resist
the aerodynamic stresses of reentry into the atmosphere.

The service module (green)
It contains oxygen and propellant tanks, attitude control thrusters, electronics for communication and the primary guidance and navigation control systems. Astronauts have no access to it and all the functions are controlled remotely.