Expedition 46/47 (TMA-19M) Launches to the ISS Tuesday

Image Credit & Copyright: NASA Bill Ingalls of the launch of Expedition 33.

Tuesday, December 15, at 11:03 UTC (06:03 EDT) a Soyuz-FG rocket; TMA-19M (ISS 45S or Soyuz 47) will be lifting off from Launch Pad 1/Launcher 5 (LC 1/5) at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It will carry three crew members of Expedition 46/47 to the International Space Station (ISS) on a four orbit, 6 hour “fast-track” launch to docking.

The crew will dock with the Russian Mini Research module-1 (MRM-1) Rassvet “Dawn” Module later that evening and that capsule will remain there for approximately 6 months as a crew escape vehicle should they need it and ultimately a return vehicle. MRM-1 Rassvet is scheduled to become vacant with the departure of TMA-17M/Expedition 45 on December 11, 2015. That departure will also officially kick off Expedition 46 which the new crew will complete once they arrive.

It’s worth noting that this will be cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko’s sixth spaceflight. His career has become of spaceflight legend as he is one of the few to have been on Mir (EO-16), Shuttle (STS-106 Atlantis) and Station (Exp 7, 16, 32/33 & 47/48). He has also performed spacewalks at Mir and Station. He is also the 1^st to get married in space. On August 10, 2003 while on Station over New Zealand, he married Ekaterina Dmitrieva while she was in Texas.

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Crew of Expedition 46/47. NASA/Victor Zelentsov

CREW OF: TMA-19M, Soyuz 47, ISS 45S, Expedition 46/47:

Roscosmos cosmonaut: Yuri Malenchenko:

NASA bio: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/malenchenko.html

NASA astronaut: Tim Kopra:

NASA bio: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/kopra-tl.html

Twitter: https://twitter.com/astro_tim

ESA astronaut (British): Tim Peake:

ESA bio: http://timpeake.esa.int/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/astro_timpeake

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ESATimPeake/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/astro_timpeake/

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/timpeake/

Principia Mission: https://principia.org.uk/

THEY WILL JOIN:

NASA astronaut & current Station Commander: Scott Kelly:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/stationcdrkelly

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NASA-Astronaut-Scott-Kelly-131376260352637/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/stationcdrkelly/

Roscosmos cosmonaut: Mikhail Korniyenko:

NASA bio: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/kornienko.html

Roscosmos cosmonaut: Sergey Volkov:

NASA bio: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/volkov.html

Twitter: https://twitter.com/volkov_iss

Instagram: https://instagram.com/volkov_iss/

The Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft is rolled out by train to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome (NASA/Bill Ingalls).

THE ROCKET: Russian Roscosmos Soyuz FG is a three-stage (sort of), medium lift rocket developed and manufactured by the Progress State Research and Production Rocket Space Center (TSsKB Progress). The FG was introduced in 2001 to deliver humans to the International Space Station (ISS). It’s derived from the Soyuz U rocket which is the most flown rocket in history with almost 800 launches and delivered Progress vehicles to the ISS until the recent addition of the Soyuz 2. The Soyuz “Union” rocket family is the most used space launch system in history with more than 1700 launches and traces its roots back to 1957 in the form of the Soviet R7 missile.

THIRD STAGE (Assembly 1): The third stage, which would really be a second stage on other rockets is 6.7 m in length and 2.6 m in diameter and is powered by a single RD-0110 engine in a four thrust chamber configuration. It utilizes Kerosene fuel and Liquid Oxygen oxidizer and burns for about 230 seconds.

SECOND STAGE (Core Unit): The core stage of the Soyuz is odd in the fact that it burns during the first and second stage of the rocket. As the rocket lifts off, it and the boosters work together as the first stage then after the strap on boosters are jettisoned the core stage continues to operate as the then second stage.

The core (1st & 2nd stage) stage is 27.1 m in length and 2.95 m in diameter and is powered by a single RD-108A engine in a four cruise thrust chamber configuration. It utilizes Kerosene fuel, Liquid Oxygen oxidizer and burns for a total of about 280-290 seconds. Attitude control is powered by four Vernier thrusters.

FIRST STAGE/BOOSTERS (Lateral Assembly): The Soyuz is equipped with four strap-on boosters that are used during first stage flight. They are each 19.6 m in length and 2.68 m in diameter and are each powered by a single RD-107A engine four cruise thrust chamber configuration. They utilize Kerosene fuel and Liquid Oxygen oxidizer and burn for approximately 118 seconds. Attitude control is powered by two Vernier thrusters.