Soyuz MS-20

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Soyuz MS-20
FGFuHbOXIAEiXZl.jpg
Docking of Soyuz MS-20
NamesISS 66S
Mission typeCrewed mission to ISS, Space tourism
OperatorRoscosmos
COSPAR ID2021-119A
SATCAT no.49922
Websitehttp://en.roscosmos.ru/z
Mission duration11 days, 19 hours and 34 minutes (achieved)
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftSoyuz MS No.752 Altair
Spacecraft typeSoyuz MS
ManufacturerRSC Energia
Crew
Crew size3
MembersAlexander Misurkin
Yusaku Maezawa
Yozo Hirano
Start of mission
Launch date8 December 2021, 07:38:15 UTC [1][2]
RocketSoyuz-2.1a
Launch siteBaikonur Cosmodrome, Site 31
ContractorProgress Rocket Space Centre
End of mission
Landing date20 December 2021, 03:13 UTC
Landing siteKazakh Steppe, Kazakhstan
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Inclination51.66°
Docking with ISS
Docking portPoisk zenith
Docking date8 December 2021, 13:40:44 UTC
Undocking date19 December 2021, 23:50:30 UTC
Time docked11 days, 10 hours and 9 minutes
Soyuz-MS-20-Mission-Patch.png
Soyuz MS-20 mission patch
The Soyuz MS-20 crew (cropped).jpg
Maezawa, Misurkin and Hirano
Soyuz programme (crewed)
← Soyuz MS-19
Soyuz MS-21 →
 

Soyuz MS-20 was a Russian Soyuz spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS) launched on 8 December 2021.[1] Unlike previous Soyuz flights to the ISS, Soyuz MS-20 does not deliver any crew members for an ISS Expedition or serve as a lifeboat for any crew members on board the station. Instead, it is commanded by a single professional cosmonaut on board, and carries two space tourists represented by space tourism company Space Adventures, which has already successfully planned and executed eight space tourism missions to the ISS.[3][4] The flight to reach the ISS took six hours.[5]

Crew[]

Cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, a veteran of two long duration missions to the ISS, commands the Soyuz, which has been modified to allow it to be flown by a sole cosmonaut.

Position Crew member
Commander Russia Alexander Misurkin, Roscosmos
Visiting
Third spaceflight
Spaceflight participant 1 Japan Yusaku Maezawa, Space Adventures
Visiting
First spaceflight
Spaceflight participant 2 Japan Yozo Hirano, Space Adventures
Visiting
First spaceflight

Backup crew[]

Position Crew member
Commander Russia Alexander Skvortsov, Roscosmos
Spaceflight participant 1 No back-up
Spaceflight participant 2 Japan , Space Adventures

Space tourists[]

For some time, it was speculated that Austrian airline pilot Johanna Maislinger would take one of the two spaceflight participant seats, but on 13 May 2021, Space Adventures confirmed that Japanese art collector Yusaku Maezawa had acquired both seats, one for himself, with the other being taken by his production assistant, Yozo Hirano. This is the first time that two Japanese space fliers are launched together.[6]

In July 2021, Space Adventures Moscow Office changed their previous story and said that Maislinger had never had access to the funds she had claimed, and they had never treated her as a serious candidate.[7]

It was also reported for a time that Japanese entertainer Yumi Matsutoya was to fly on this space flight.[8]

Notes[]

Soyuz MS-20 marks the first flight of a space tourist to the International Space Station since Canadian space tourist Guy Laliberté launched onboard Soyuz TMA-16 in September 2009.[9] British singer Sarah Brightman was originally scheduled to fly onboard Soyuz TMA-18M in 2015, although she cancelled her flight before launch.[10]

Soyuz MS-20 also marks the first of at least two completely commercially dedicated Soyuz flights flown by Roscosmos, the second being , which is scheduled for launch in October 2022 and will ferry one Russian cosmonaut and two commercial astronauts to the ISS for six months.[11]

This flight also marks a departure from the traditional way space tourism has been done. On previous flights, the space tourist's mission would take place during either a "taxi" flight, where Soyuz lifeboats on the ISS were being swapped, allowing for a week or so-long mission, or during handover periods between crews, where the space tourist would launch with an incoming long-duration crew and land with the outgoing long-duration crew. Soyuz MS-20 is a departure from this model, as it involves a flight entirely dedicated to space tourism. American company Axiom Space also has a deal for a similar flight with SpaceX, where an Axiom-hired professional astronaut will fly with three paying space tourists to the ISS on board a SpaceX Dragon 2 spacecraft, scheduled for February 2022.[12][13]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Zak, Anatoly (3 September 2020). "Planned Russian space missions in 2021: Soyuz MS-20". RussianSpaceWeb.com. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  2. ^ Baylor, Michael (1 July 2020). "Status - Soyuz MS-20". NextSpaceflight. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  3. ^ Jefferson, Mark. "Space Station Experience". Space Adventures.
  4. ^ "Roscosmos signs new contract on flight of two space tourists to ISS". TASS. 19 February 2020.
  5. ^ "Туристы из Японии в декабре полетят к МКС по шестичасовой схеме" (in Russian). 15 August 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  6. ^ "Space Adventures' Client, Yusaku Maezawa, Plans for Mission to the International Space Station". 13 May 2021.
  7. ^ "Mystery of Missing "Space Tourists" explained". 22 August 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  8. ^ "Russia to select actress for Soyuz mission in May". SpaceNews. 28 April 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  9. ^ "NASA - Expedition 21 Crew Launches From Kazakhstan". NASA. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  10. ^ "Singer Sarah Brightman calls off tourist flight to International Space Station". The Guardian. 14 May 2015 – via theguardian.com.
  11. ^ "Коммерческий полет "Союза" на МКС планируется в 2022-2023 годах" [Soyuz commercial flight to the ISS is planned in 2022-2023] (in Russian). RIA Novosti. 27 April 2020.
  12. ^ Foust, Jeff (5 March 2020). "Axiom to fly Crew Dragon mission to the space station". SpaceNews.
  13. ^ "NASA, Axiom Agree to First Private Astronaut Mission on Space Station". NASA. 10 May 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
Retrieved from ""