Oct 31 2002
From The Space Library
The Russian Space Agency launched the Soyuz TMA-1 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, at 8:11 a.m., local time~ 10:1 1 p.m. (EST). The launch was officially designated ISS Mission 5S. Soyuz TMA-1 was the first of a newly modified version of the Soyuz spacecraft, offering improved safety features and accommodation for crew members of a larger range of sizes. In addition, Soyuz TMA-1 was an automatic passenger craft intended to replace Soyuz TM-34 as the ISS's escape craft. The Russian Space Agency had been sending Soyuz vehicles to the ISS every six months as CRVs for scientists residing on the ISS. Soyuz TMA-1 's crew consisted of Commander Sergei V. Zalyotin and two crew members, Russian cosmonaut Yuri V. Lonchakov and Belgian ESA astronaut Frank De Winne. The mission's primary purpose was to provide a CRV for the ISS; however, Soyuz TMA-1 's crew also planned to conduct scientific experiments with the ISS Expedition 5 members. ISS crew would conduct most of these experiments under a commercial contract between Russia and ESA. (Puttkamer, “Space Flight 2002”; NASA Mission Control Center, “Report #48,” http://quest.nasa.gov/news/space/2002/10-29a.txt (accessed 17 October 2008).)
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