Keep the shuttle flying: Fwd: ISS Expedition 42/43 Crew Return

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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: June 12, 2015 at 10:13:40 AM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: ISS Expedition 42/43 Crew Return

LOTS OF PHOTOS.
Gary

ROSCOSMOS WELCOMES ON THE GROUND CREW EXPEDITION 42/43
06/11/2015 17:34
Today, on 11 June 2015 at 16 hours 44 minutes on the MSK crew 42/43 expedition to the International Space Station (ISS) landed safely in Kazakhstan in a given area 146 kilometers south-east of the town of Zhezkazgan.
TPK "Soyuz TMA-15M" with a crew of Anton SHKAPLEROVA ROSCOSMOS astronaut, NASA astronaut Terry VЁRTSA and ESA astronaut Samantha KRISTOFORETTI undocked from the ISS at 13 hours 20 minutes Moscow Time.
All operations on the descent from orbit and landing went without comment. He feels returning to Earth crew members good.
Anton Shkaplerov, Terry and Samantha VЁRTS KRISTOFORETTI launched from Baikonur November 24, 2014. During space flight crew fully implement the program of scientific and applied research at the station.
42/43 The mission also participated in the working of the two Russian and one American cargo ship.
Press Service of the Russian Federal Space Agency

Crew of spacecraft Soyuz TMA-15M returned to Earth
June 11, 2015
The descent vehicle of spacecraft Soyuz TMA-15M carrying the International Space Station Expedition 42/43 crew made a successful landing 148 km to the South East of Dzhezkazgan (Kazakhstan). The touch-down occurred at 16:43 Moscow Time. The crew consists of Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, as well as NASA astronaut Terry Virts.

Crew of spacecraft Soyuz TMA-15M returned to Earth
June 11, 2015
The descent vehicle of spacecraft Soyuz TMA-15M carrying the International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 42/43 crew made a successful landing 148 km to the South East of Dzhezkazgan (Kazakhstan). The touch-down occurred at 16:43 Moscow Time. The crew consists of Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, as well as NASA astronaut Terry Virts.
The manned transportation spacecraft Soyuz TMA-15M built by RSC Energia was launched to the ISS using Soyuz-FG launch vehicle on November 24, 2014 from the Baikonur launch site.
During the Increment cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov took part in operations with Russian transport cargo vehicles "Progress М-М", European logistics spacecraft ATV and supported docking of manned spacecraft "Soyuz ТМА-16М" to the Station. During the ISS mission А. Shkaplerov performed about 50 applied scientific investigations and experiments, photo and video imagery of the ISS.
Until the arrival of participants in the next expedition to the ISS, the station will be manned by the crew consisting of Gennady Padalka (Roscosmos), Mikhail Kornienko (Roscosmos) and Scott Kelly (NASA).
The manned transportation spacecraft (MTS) of a new series "Soyuz TMA-M" developed and built by RSC Energia is an upgraded version of Soyuz TMA. New devices of the motion control and navigation system, advanced onboard measurement system are installed in the spacecraft. All devices are manufactured using modern electronic-component base and completed with the latest software. As a result of the spacecraft upgrade the onboard hardware mass was reduced, and thus the payload ascent capacities were advanced.
The spacecraft is designed to deliver crews of up to three crewmembers and associated cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) and return them to Earth. While being docked to the ISS, "Soyuz TMA-M" serves as a crew rescue vehicle and is maintained in a constant readiness for urgent crew descent to Earth. This may be necessary in the event of an emergency situation aboard the station, illness or injury of any of the crew members.

OAO RSC Energia is a leading enterprise of rocket-space industry, the prime organization for manned space systems. The Corporation is engaged in the development of unmanned space - rocket systems (launch vehicles and interorbital transfer), high-tech special-purpose systems for use in non-space fields. Since August 2014, the Corporation is headed by Vladimir Lvovich Solntsev.
RSC Energia press-center
© 2000 - 2015 S.P. Korolev RSC "Energia"

Soyuz descent capsule with ISS crew lands in Kazakhstan

June 11, 16:50 UTC+3
The crew feel well

© Donat Sorokin/TASS
KOROLYOV /Moscow Region/, June 11. /TASS/. The descent capsule of the Soyuz TMA-15M manned spacecraft with three members of an international crew on board landed at the estimated time in Kazakhstan, the Moscow Region-based Mission Control Center said Thursday.
"The capsule landed in the planned landing area, approximately 145 kilometers southeast of the city of Jezkazgan," the center said.
A little later search and rescue groups reached the place of landing and started evacuating astronauts.
"The crew feel well," the Mission Control Center said.

ISS crew successfully evacuated from descent capsule
June 11, 17:33 UTC+3
The Mission Control Center specified that commander Shkaplerov was the first to be evacuated. Cristoforetti was the second and Virts the last one to be taken out

Members of a search and rescue group seen after finding a descent capsule in Kazakhstan in 2013
© EPA/SHAMIL ZHUMATOV / POOL
KOROLYOV /Moscow Region/, June 11. /TASS/. Search and rescue groups have evacuated the astronauts, who returned to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS), from the descent capsule of the Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft, the Moscow Region-based Mission Control Center said Thursday.
The descent capsule of the Soyuz TMA-15M manned spacecraft with three members of an international crew on board - Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, American astronaut Terry Virts and European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti - landed at the estimated time in Kazakhstan.
The Mission Control Center specified that commander Shkaplerov was the first to be evacuated. Cristoforetti was the second and Virts the last one to be taken out.
The crew worked in orbit since late November 2014. The astronauts were to have returned May 14 but had to stay in orbit longer due to April's accident involving the Progress M-27M spacecraft.
Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Korniyenko, as well as NASA astronaut Scott Kelly remained on board the space station. The next manned spacecraft - Soyuz TMA-17M - will blast off toward the ISS July 24.
The Progress M-27M cargo spacecraft was launched on April 28 from the Baikonur space center on a Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket. The rocket took the spacecraft to a higher orbit than required to dock with the ISS. After a few unsuccessful attempts to get control of the spacecraft, experts gave up the idea. The Progress was taking food, oxygen and other cargos to the ISS crew. It burned in dense atmosphere May 8.
Roscosmos concluded that the cause of the accident was "abnormal separation" of the Soyuz third stage and the Progress due to decompression of the rocket's fuel tanks, caused by an unaccounted design property.

© 2015 TASS

By William Harwood
CBS News
June 11, 2015, 6:50 AM
Space station crew returns to Earth after 200 days
Last Updated Jun 11, 2015 10:53 AM EDT
A Russian cosmonaut, a NASA astronaut and an Italian wrapping up her first space flight boarded a Russian Soyuz ferry craft early Thursday, undocked from the International Space Station and plunged back to Earth, landing safely on the steppe of Kazakhstan to close out an extended 200-day mission.
Soyuz TMA-15M commander Anton Shkaplerov, flanked on the left by flight engineer Samantha Cristoforetti and on the right by outgoing station commander Terry Virts, undocked from the lab's Russian Rassvet module at 6:20 a.m. EDT (GMT-4) snd smoothly pulled away as the two spacecraft sailed 250 miles above Mongolia.
Left behind were Expedition 44 commander Gennady Padalka, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko. Launched March 27 aboard the Soyuz TMA-16M ferry craft, Kelly and Kornienko are spending nearly a full year in space to help researchers learn more about the long-term effects of weightlessness and exposure to space radiation.
The Soyuz TMA-15M crew relaxes after being helped out of the cramped Soyuz descent module following a smooth re-entry and landing in Kazakhstan. Left to right: NASA astronaut Terry Virts, commander Anton Shkaplerov and European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti.
NASA TV
"Fair winds and following seas, guys, it was a real pleasure spending time up here with you," Kelly radioed. "Good luck on your landing."
"Thanks, Scott. Miss you guys already," Virts replied as the Soyuz pulled away.
After moving to a point about seven and a half miles from the space station, Shkaplerov monitored an automated four-minute 40-second deorbit rocket firing starting at 8:51 a.m., slowing the craft by about 286 mph and dropping the far side of its orbit deep into the atmosphere.
About 22 minutes later, the three modules making up the Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft separated as planned and the central crew capsule, oriented heat shield first and traveling at nearly five miles per second, slammed into the discernible atmosphere 62 miles above the Middle East at 9:21 a.m.
Exiting the zone of peak aerodynamic heating, the crew module's main parachute unfurled at an altitude of more than six miles, rapidly slowing the descent before a jarring rocket-assisted touchdown 92 miles southeast of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, at 9:44 a.m.
The Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station's Rassvet module at 6:20 a.m. EDT as the two spacecraft sailed high above the China-Mongolia border.
NASA TV
Russian recovery crews stationed nearby reached the descent module within a few minutes to help the returning station fliers out of the cramped capsule, carrying them to nearby recliners for satellite phone calls home and an initial round of medical checks.
All three appeared healthy and in good spirits, enjoying ideal late afternoon weather as they began their re-adaptation to gravity after six-and-a-half months in space.
Touchdown marked the end of a mission spanning 199 days and 16 hours since launch March 23 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, a voyage covering 3,184 orbits and 84.2 million miles.
Shkaplerov and his crewmates originally planned to return to Earth on May 13, clearing the way for launch of three fresh crew members on May 27.
But after an April 28 launch failure that sent a Progress supply ship spinning out of control, Russian mission managers decided to delay the next Soyuz launch to late July to give engineers time to figure out what went wrong and implement corrective actions.
At the same time, they delayed the return of Shkaplerov, Virts and Cristoforetti to keep a full crew of six on board the station for as long as possible to maximize the crew time available for research and maintenance.
The landing delay also gave Cristoforetti, completing her first flight, time to set a new record -- 199 days 16 hours -- for the longest single mission by a female astronaut or cosmonaut. Last Sunday, she moved past NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, who logged 195 days aloft in 2006-07.
Astronaut Scott Kelly, left, shoots a final few pictures of departing crewmates Anton Shkaplerov, back left, Terry Virts, top, and Samantha Cristoforetti, right, moments before they boarded the Soyuz TMA-15M ferry craft for the trip back to Earth to close out a nearly 200-day mission.
NASA TV
Shkaplerov's time in space over two missions now stands at 364 days while Virts' total, including a space shuttle flight, stands at 212 days.
After a final round of medical checks, the crew was to be flown by helicopter to Karaganda for an official Kazakh welcoming ceremony. Then Shkaplerov will fly back to Star City near Moscow while Virts and Cristoforetti board a NASA jet for the long flight back to Houston and the Johnson Space Center.
Padalka, Kelly and Kornienko will have the station to themselves for the next month and a half. With only three crew members on board, the pace of research will be reduced until the Soyuz TMA-17M crew arrives in late July, but Kelly said in an earlier interview he did not expect any problems conducting the on-going medical research.
Padalka, making his fifth space flight, is the first person to serve as station commander four times. He will become the world's most experienced space flier on June 28, eclipsing cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev's record of 803 days across six space flights. When he returns to Earth in September, Padalka's record will stand at 877.6 days.
Because Kelly and Kornienko are spending nearly a full year in space, the Russians plan to launch a Soyuz ferry craft -- TMA-18M -- on a so-called "taxi" flight on Sept. 1 carrying commander Sergey Volkov, ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen and a yet-to-be named cosmonaut.
The crew capsule carrying three astronauts from the space station touched down right on target about 92 miles southeast of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan.
NASA
The third seat originally was taken by singer and would-be space tourist Sarah Brightman, but she recently withdrew for undisclosed reasons.
In any case, Padalka will serve as commander of Soyuz TMA-16M, the same craft that carried him into orbit, returning to Earth Sept. 11 with Mogensen and the yet-to-be-named cosmonaut. Volkov will remain aloft and serve as commander of the TMA-18M spacecraft, escorting Kelly and Kornienko home next March.
The Soyuz TMA-15M crew module descends to touchdown on the steppe of Kazakhstan after a problem-free descent from the International Space Station.
NASA/Bill Ingalls

© 2015 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

AmericaSpace
For a nation that explores
June 11th, 2015
After 28 Weeks in Orbit, Multi-National Soyuz TMA-15M Crew Returns Safely to Earth
By Ben Evans
The Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft is seen as it lands with Expedition 43 commander Terry Virts of NASA, cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), and Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti from European Space Agency (ESA) near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Thursday, June 11, 2015. Virts, Shkaplerov, and Cristoforetti are returning after more than six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 42 and 43 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
After 199 days in space, Soyuz TMA-15M has safely returned to Earth, bringing Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, U.S. astronaut Terry Virts and Italy's first woman in space, Samantha Cristoforetti, back to a touchdown near the industrial city of Jezkazgan, in north-central Kazakhstan, at 7:44 p.m. local time (9:44 a.m. EDT) Thursday, 11 June. Their parachute-assisted landing on the desolate Kazakh steppe followed an exceptionally smooth undocking from the International Space Station (ISS) at 6:20 a.m. EDT and a picture-perfect descent back through the "sensible" atmosphere. It brought about a whole raft of achievements, personal accomplishments and empirical records for the three spacefarers. Cristoforetti now holds the record for the longest single mission ever undertaken by a woman, whilst Virts has just wrapped up the second longest flight in history by a U.S. citizen and Shkaplerov has now spent a little over 365 days in orbit, across his two missions. Their longer than expected flight has seen them support three U.S. EVAs, welcome two SpaceX Dragon cargo vehicles, bid farewell to Europe's last Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), perform hundreds of scientific and medical experiments and formally greet One-Year crewmen Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko.
As noted in AmericaSpace's Expedition 43 overview on Tuesday, Soyuz TMA-15M was originally intended to land on 14 May, with Virts due to hand over control of the ISS to Expedition 44 Commander Gennadi Padalka, whose own crew would be expanded to full, six-person strength with the arrival of Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, U.S. astronaut Kjell Lindgren and Japan's Kimiya Yui aboard Soyuz TMA-17M on 26/27 May. Unfortunately, the failure of Russia's Progress M-27M resupply craft in late April—whose launch vehicle suffered a third-stage malfunction, effectively dooming the unpiloted cargo mission—led to the temporary suspension of all flights by Soyuz boosters, pending a full investigation and corrective actions.
In response to the failure, the launch of Soyuz TMA-17M has been postponed until no sooner than 23-25 July. This would have created an undesirably protracted 2.5-month period with the ISS at a reduced, three-man strength. In order to limit this period at minimum crew capability—and also aware of the approximately six-month orbital lifetime of Soyuz TMA-15M, which has been in space since late November—the return of Virts, Shkaplerov and Cristoforetti was extended as far to the right as possible, producing a movement of their landing to 11 June. Although Russia issued preliminary findings of its investigation on 22 May, it appeared that the third-stage problem was relatively straightforward to resolve, for the Soyuz booster returned to service on 5 June to deliver a classified Kobalt-M photographic reconnaissance satellite into low-Earth orbit from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia's far-northern Arkhangelsk Oblast. More recently, Novosti Kosmonavtiki has reported that Progress M-28M will head to the ISS on 3 July.
After a brief farewell ceremony in the tunnel between the Rassvet module and Soyuz TMA-15M, the time came to close the hatches for the return of Shkaplerov, Virts and Cristoforetti to Earth. Photo Credit: NASA
As described on his Twitter feed, Terry Virts spent part of his free time in the last few days observing the glorious Home Planet—watching noctilucent clouds with Scott Kelly on Monday morning, completing his 100th Vine video from space, observing the progress of Hurricane Blanca to the south of Mexico and expressing wonderment at what orbital sunrises might look like around other worlds. Many of these observations were conducted from the station's multi-windowed cupola, which now enjoys a virtually unobstructed view of the Home Planet and of the entire Earth-facing (or "nadir") side of the U.S. Orbital Segment (USOS), following the recent relocation of the Leonardo Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM). "It is easy," he wrote on Sunday, in a tweet which accompanied a spectacular view of a cloud-bedecked Earth, "to find tranquility from the cupola." He also expressed a measure of sorrow about leaving the magical environment which he and his crewmates have called home for more than six months. "I'm really going to miss sleeping in weightlessness," Virts tweeted last Friday. "It is absolutely wonderful."
Clearly, the additional 28 days added onto the expedition of Virts, Shkaplerov and Cristoforetti was put to good use, with expanded scientific research, the unberthing and departure of SpaceX's CRS-6 Dragon cargo ship and the earlier-than-planned relocation of the Leonardo PMM from the Unity nadir port to Tranquility forward, in anticipation of the delivery of International Docking Adapters (IDAs) and future Commercial Crew operations. At the same time, however, the trio—who represent the air forces of the United States, Russia and Italy—have spent their free time acquiring stunning imagery of the iridescence of life on their home world: from fishing vessels plying the waters between Vietnam and Hong Kong to the "treat for the eyes" presented by each pass over the Algerian desert, and from Anton Shkaplerov's stunning view of Patagonian glaciers in South America to Cristoforetti's regular "Buona notte dallo spazio" ("Goodnight from space") salutations, always accompanied by a spectacular view of Earth.
Yesterday (Wednesday), Virts ceremonially drew down the curtain on Expedition 43 and transferred the mantle to Gennadi Padalka, who will lead Expedition 44 through mid-September, becoming the first person to command as many as four discrete ISS increments. Padalka previously led Expedition 9 in April-October 2004, Expedition 19/20 in March-October 2009 and Expedition 32 in July-September 2012. In delivering his change-of-command address, Virts thanked the mission control and science support teams around the world. "It was because of your support," he said, "and watching over us every day and helping us to execute our plan that this mission was so successful."
Soyuz TMA-15M enters free flight for the first time in 6.5 months at 6:20 a.m. EDT Thursday. Photo Credit: NASA
Touchingly, Virts also paid tribute to Shkaplerov and Cristoforetti—"my brother and sister, you guys are the best"—and described the Expedition 44 core crew of Padalka, Kornienko and Kelly as "the best of the best". All three have previous long-duration experience, with Padalka due to eclipse fellow cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev's cumulative 803-day record on 28 June and become holder of the achievement for the greatest amount of time spent in space by a human being. Virts handed the microphone over to Padalka, who expressed his own thanks to the Expedition 43 team for keeping the ISS in such great shape and for supporting his own crew upon their arrival in March. "No matter how many flights you have," said Padalka, who is on his fifth career space mission with Expedition 44, "it's always like a new station, a first flight." He closed his remarks by wishing the outgoing crew a "soft, safe landing" to conclude their long mission.
Also, yesterday, Virts managed to acquire stunning images of the 4,500-year-old Pyramids of Giza from orbit. "It took me until my last day in space," he tweeted to his 205,000 followers, "to get a good picture of these!" For her part, Samantha Cristoforetti tweeted thanks to actress Susan Sarandon for helping to spark girls' interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education and wistfully remarked "It's been an amazing journey, thx for coming along! Now time to go home to Earth". In doing so, she shared an image of herself, floating in the space station's multi-windowed cupola, together with two 100-Day patches, to signify her 200th overall day in orbit. By the time of touchdown, Cristoforetti, Shkaplerov and Virts would be just eight hours of 200 full days away from the Home Planet.
Earlier today, they moved through the tunnel connecting the Earth-facing (or "nadir") Rassvet module to their Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft and shared a poignant few moments of farewell with Padalka, Kornienko and Kelly, shortly before 3 a.m. EDT. Amidst hugs, fists punching the air and a camera-toting Kelly taking photographs, the outgoing crew headed into their spacecraft and closed the hatches. Following a series of leak checks to verify the air-tightness of the seal between the two vehicles, together with communications checks, donning of their Sokol ("Falcon") launch and entry suits and taking salt-enriched tablets to assist with the onset of terrestrial gravity, the time drew near for their planned 6:20 a.m. EDT undocking from Rassvet.
The departing Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft, as tweeted by Expedition 44 astronaut Scott Kelly. Photo Credit: NASA
Overseeing the U.S. side of the operation from the Mission Control Center (MCC) at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas, was a team headed by Flight Director Zebulon "Zeb" Scoville, who polled his team about a half-hour ahead of undocking for their consensus, then relayed his state of readiness to Russian Mission Control, just outside Korolev, formerly the city of Kaliningrad, within Moscow Oblast. Mr. Scoville, who was appointed to JSC's team of flight directors last year, has an extensive career within NASA, as an EVA instructor and flight controller, with experience in both Space Shuttle and ISS operations. With all teams having declared their readiness to support today's undocking, at 6:19 a.m. EDT the approximately 90-second period of opening grappling hooks to release Soyuz TMA-15M got underway. The two spacecraft parted company on time at 6:20 a.m., as the complex passed about 252 miles (405 km) above southern Mongolia.
With Shkaplerov commanding the return to Earth from the center seat, and Cristoforetti to his left as "Board Engineer-1" and Virts to his right as "Board Engineer-2", the trio initiated a rapid withdrawal from the ISS. By 6:29 a.m., the second of two separation "burns" of Soyuz TMA-15M's thrusters had been completed, allowing the spacecraft to depart the relative vicinity of the space station, before commencing its re-entry regime. After a brief period of free time to observe the Home Planet from orbit for the last time on this mission, efforts entered high gear to execute the irreversible deorbit burn to slow Soyuz TMA-15M sufficiently to allow it to descend into the dense upper atmosphere. "The deorbit burn has just started," noted AmericaSpace's Launch Tracker at 8:52:55 a.m. EDT. "The burn will last for four minutes and 40 seconds." The burn concluded with crisp perfection at 8:57:29 a.m. "Everything looks good," stressed our Tracker.
The good wishes rolled in for a safe and successful return to Earth. "Fair winds and following seas my good friends @AstroTerry, @AstroSamantha, and @AntonAstrey. #YearInSpace", tweeted Scott Kelly, shortly after the undocking and departure. "Successful engine firing," remarked former astronaut Chris Hadfield, who commanded Canada's first ISS mission, two years ago. "Now about 45 minutes of heat, pyrotechnic explosions, high-G forces & then a car crash, until safely home." Others who have yet to make the journey also offered their good wishes, including Frenchman Thomas Pesquet, who expressed sheer thrill to hear the call "Deorbit burn complete, no anomalies" on the Mission Control loops. "The hardest part is done," he tweeted. "Brace for the ride, @AstroSamantha."
Recovery forces work to open Soyuz TMA-15M's top hatch, after the spacecraft landed in a thankfully upright orientation on the Kazakh steppe. Photo Credit: NASA
A little over a quarter-hour later, the spherical orbital module and cylindrical instrument module were jettisoned, as planned, leaving Shkaplerov, Virts and Cristoforetti ensconced inside the beehive-shaped descent module, which would protect them from the searing temperatures of the perilous hypersonic fall back to Earth. "Entry Interface" (EI)—the point at which the spacecraft was subjected to rapid heating of its outer surfaces, caused by friction with steadily thickening atmospheric gases—was encountered at 9:18 a.m., at an altitude of 400,000 feet (122 km).
Eight minutes later, the descent module streaked, meteor-like, through the sky at a velocity in excess of 515 mph (830 km/h), heading for its touchdown point, targeted about 92 miles (148 km) south of Jezkazgan. By 7:20 p.m. local time (9:20 a.m. EDT), with 23 minutes remaining before landing, 12 Russian Mi-8 search and rescue helicopters began executing oval-shaped flight patterns in readiness for the arrival of Soyuz TMA-15M. The spacecraft's enormous rate of descent was arrested rapidly, thanks chiefly to the deployment of four parachutes. "I remember counting down to Parachute Opening," astronaut Cady Coleman tweeted, during this critical phase. "You're falling sooo fast, then the most abrupt pull-up…mouths closed, please!"
Two "pilot" chutes were initially released, followed by the 258-square-foot (24-square-meter) drogue, which slowed Soyuz TMA-15M to about 180 mph (290 km/h). Finally, the main canopy—with a fully deployed surface area of 10,764 square feet (1,000 square meters)—was unfurled, shifting Soyuz TMA-15M's attitude to a 30-degree angle, relative to the ground. This steadily dissipated heat, then shifted it back to a straight-vertical descent profile for landing. "Good 'chutes!!! Bring it home!" tweeted astronaut Vic Glover, a sentiment shared by fellow Group 21 astronaut Anne McClain, watching from MCC-Houston. The main canopy slowed the descent module to a stately 16.4 mph (26.4 km/h), still too fast for a safe landing. The turn then came for the solid-fueled rockets in Soyuz TMA-15M's base, which fired in the last two seconds to cushion the touchdown at 7:44 p.m. local time (9:44 a.m. EDT).
Conditions at the landing site were near-perfect, with blue skies and wispy clouds and temperatures around 29 degrees Celsius, or the mid-80s Fahrenheit. Touchdown occurred about 94 minutes prior to local sunset, with the descent module landing in an upright position, allowing the crew to be extracted from the top hatch, which previously formed the junction to the orbital module. The 43rd long-duration crew of the ISS was safely home after an eventful expedition, which had spanned 199 days, 16 hours and 43 minutes, completed 3,184 orbits of Earth and traveled in excess of 84.2 million miles (135.5 million km). In the coming hours, Shkaplerov will board an aircraft to transport him back to the Zvezdny Gorodok ("Star City") cosmonauts' training center, on the forested outskirts of Moscow, to be reunited with his family and commence post-flight rehabilitation. Meanwhile, Virts and Cristoforetti will soon board a NASA Gulfstream III aircraft at the Kazakh city of Karaganda for the flight back to Ellington Field in Houston, Texas, to be received by their families, friends and colleagues from the Astronaut Office.
A tired Terry Virts offers a thumbs-up after flying the second longest single space mission ever completed by a U.S. citizen. Photo Credit: NASA
Today's perfect landing brings about a whole raft of achievements, personal accomplishments and empirical records for the three spacefarers. Cristoforetti—who secured a record as soon as she left the launch pad, last 23/24 November, by becoming Italy's first woman in space—accrued for herself, for her homeland and for Europe several key records. Originally scheduled to return to Earth on 14 May, after 171 days in orbit, she would have fallen just a few days shy of fellow countryman Paolo Nespoli's 174-day national cumulative record for Italy, but with the extension of her flight she was able to surpass him on 17 May, then exceed Dutchman Andre Kuipers' 194-day achievement on 5 June to become holder of the record for the longest single mission ever undertaken by a European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut, and finally, a mere 24 hours later, she also surpassed U.S. astronaut Sunita Williams to seize the crown for the longest single mission by a woman.
The extended mission also enabled Terry Virts to pip fellow astronaut Mike Barratt into second place on the list of the longest single space missions ever undertaken by representatives of the United States. Only Mike Lopez-Alegria's 215-day record, set during Expedition 14 between September 2006 and April 2007, now stands ahead of Virts, although both will be relegated to a lower position on the U.S. list in October 2015 as Scott Kelly enters the second half of his One-Year Mission. Not to be outdone, the unsung member of the Soyuz TMA-15M crew—Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, who commanded today's return to Earth from the spacecraft's center seat—has just barely scraped a full Earth-year of time off the planet, spread across his two career missions. At the point of touchdown in Kazakhstan, Shkaplerov accrued 365 days and 14 minutes, across his two missions, making him only the 32nd person in history to have spent longer than a full Earth-year in space.

Copyright © 2015 AmericaSpace - All Rights Reserved

Record Setting Italian Female Astronaut and ISS Crewmates Land in Sunny Kazakhstan
by Ken Kremer on June 11, 2015

The Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft is seen as it lands with Expedition 43 commander Terry Virts of NASA, cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), and Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti from European Space Agency (ESA) near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Thursday, June 11, 2015. Virtz, Shkaplerov, and Cristoforetti are returning after more than six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 42 and 43 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
An international crew comprising a Russian cosmonaut, a US astronaut and an Italian astronaut who accomplished a record setting flight for time in space by a female, departed the International Space Station (ISS) earlier today, June 11, and safely landed in sunny and warm Kazakhstan tucked inside their Russia Soyuz ferry ship after a successful and extended 199-day mission devoted to science and station upgrades.
The multinational trio comprising Expedition 43 Commander Terry Virts of NASA, Flight Engineers Anton Shkaplerov of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA (European Space Agency) undocked from the orbiting outposts Russian Rassvet module as scheduled in the Soyuz TMA-15M spaceship at 6:20 a.m. EDT while soaring some 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Mongolia.
A four-minute 40-second deorbit burn at 8:51 a.m EDT slowed the craft for the fiery reentry into the Earth's atmosphere.
The crew touched down just a few hours after undocking at 9:44 a.m. EDT (7:44 p.m., Kazakh time), southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan on the steppes of Kazakhstan, about an hour and a half before sundown in delightfully summer weather. Temperatures today were in the 80s, but they are 'bone chilling' in the winter months.
Expedition 43 Commander Terry Virts of NASA, Flight Engineers Anton Shkaplerov of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA (European Space Agency) touched down at 9:44 a.m. EDT (7:44 p.m., Kazakh time), southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan. Credits: NASA TV
The Expedition 43 flight was extended at the last minute due to the surprise launch failure of a Russian rocket carrying a station bound Progress resupply ship in late April.
The Progress 59 cargo vessel, also known as Progress M-27M, spun wildly out of control as it separated from the Soyuz-2.1A carrier rocket. The freighter and all its 2.5 tons of contents fpr the crew were destroyed during an uncontrolled plummet as its crashed back to Earth on May 8.
The Soyuz/Progress 59 failure had far reaching consequences and resulted in a postponement of virtually all Russian crew and cargo flights to the ISS for the remainder of 2015, as announced this week by Roscosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency.
One result is that Cristoforetti now holds the single mission record for a female astronaut, of nearly 200 days.
Expedition 43 was extended by about a month in the wake of the launch failure of the Progress 59 cargo vessel, which quickly cascaded into an extended mission from its originally planned length of about 170 days to 199+ days.
The Soyuz is only certified to stay on orbit for 200 days. So the return home delayed as much as possible to minimize the time when the ISS reverts to only a three person crew – and consequently reduced time for research.
This past weekend on June 6, Cristoforetti surpassed the female astronaut record of 194 days, 18 hours and 2 minutes established by NASA astronaut Sunita Williams on a prior station flight back in 2007.
Cristoforetti, of the European Space Agency (ESA), is on her first ever space flight also counts as she also counts as Italy's first female astronaut.
The station departure and parachute assisted soft landing was shown during a live webcast on NASA TV.
"The landing was on time and on target after over 199 days in space," said NASA commentator Rob Navius.
"Everything went by the book for an on target touchdown. The crew is safely back on Earth!"
Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency in Star Trek uniform as SpaceX Dragon arrives at the International Space Station on April 17, 2015. Credit: NASA
In the final stages of the return to Earth, the Soyuz descent module glided down safely using a single mammoth orange and white parachute, aided by braking rockets in the final moments just a few feet above ground.
The Soyuz landed upright, which eased the extraction of the crew. Russian recovery team members hoisted all three up and out from the cramped capsule.
Soyuz commander Anton Shkaplerov was hauled up first, followed by Samantha Cristoforetti and finally Terry Virts.
All three crewmembers were healthy and happy, each signaling their elation with a joyous 'thumbs up.'
After preliminary medical checks, the crew were flown by helicopter to a staging base at Karaganda. From there they split up. Shkaplerov heads back to Moscow and Star City. Cristoforetti and Virts fly to Mission Control in Houston.
During their time aloft, the crew completed several critical spacewalks, technology demonstrations, and hundreds of scientific experiments spanning multiple disciplines, including human and plant biology," according to NASA.
Among the research experiments conducted were "participation in the demonstration of new, cutting-edge technologies such as the Synthetic Muscle experiment, a test of a new polymer that contracts and expands similar to real muscle. This technology has the potential for future use on robots, enabling them to perform tasks that require considerable dexterity but are too dangerous to be performed by humans in space."
"The crew engaged in a number of biological studies, including one investigation to better understand the risks of in-flight infections and another studying the effects microgravity has on bone health during long-duration spaceflight. The Micro-5 study used a small roundworm and a microbe that causes food poisoning in humans to study the risk of infectious diseases in space, which is critical for ensuring crew health, safety and performance during long-duration missions. The Osteo-4 study investigated bone loss in space, which has applications not only for astronauts on long-duration missions, but also for people on Earth affected by osteoporosis and other bone disorders."
Three cargo flights also arrived at the ISS carrying many tons of essential supplies, research equipment, science experiments, gear, spare parts, food, water, clothing.
The resupply freighters included the Russian Progress in February 2015 as well as two SpaceX Dragon cargo ships on the CRS-5 and CRS-6 flights in January and April.
Expedition 43 commander Terry Virts of NASA, left, cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), center, and Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti from European Space Agency (ESA) sit in chairs outside the Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft just minutes after they landed in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Thursday, June 11, 2015. Virts, Shkaplerov, and Cristoforetti are returning after more than six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 42 and 43 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
With the return of Virts crew, the new Expedition 44 begins and comprises NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko, the two members of the first "ISS 1 Year Mission" as well as cosmonaut Gennady Padalka.
Padalka now assumes command of the station for a record setting fourth time. And he'll soon be setting another record. In late June, he will break the all time record for cumulative time in space currently held by cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev of 803 days on six space flights.
When Padalka returns to Earth around September 10 in the Soyuz TMA-16M ship, that brought the 1 Year crew to the ISS, he will have been in space for a grand total of over 877 days over five flights.
The next cargo ferry flight involves NASA's next contracted unmanned Dragon cargo mission by commercial provider SpaceX on the CRS-7 flight.
Dragon CRS-7 is now slated for liftoff on June 26. Watch for my onsite reports from KSC.
The Dragon will be carrying critical US equipment, known as the International Docking Adapter (IDA), enabling docking by the SpaceX Crew Dragon and Boeing CST-100 astronaut transporters – due for first crewed launches in 2017.
The most recent unmanned Dragon cargo CRS-6 mission concluded with a Pacific Ocean splashdown on May 21.
The International Space Station, photographed by the crew of STS-132 as they disembarked. Credit: NASA

3 Space Station Astronauts Safely Return to Earth
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JUNE 11, 2015, 10:56 A.M. E.D.T.
DZHEZKAZGAN, Kazakhstan — A three-person crew from the International Space Station landed safely in the steppes of Kazakhstan on Thursday after a longer-than-expected orbital stint.
NASA astronaut Terry Virts, Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency and Russia's Anton Shkaplerov returned to Earth after 199 days on the station, nearly a month longer than planned.
Because of the delayed return, Cristoforetti, an Italian, has now spent more continuous time in space than any other woman, surpassing by several days the mark set by a NASA astronaut in 2007.
The trio's Soyuz capsule landed on schedule at 7:44 p.m. local time (1344 GMT; 9:44 a.m. EDT) about 145 kilometers (90 miles) southeast of the city of Dzhezkazgan, in what a NASA commentator described as a textbook homecoming.
After descending slowly under a striped red and white parachute, the craft touched down softly on the sun-drenched steppe. Russian helicopters quickly delivered search and rescue crews to help the astronauts get out of the capsule and quickly check their condition.
The smiling astronauts sat in reclining chairs, adapting to Earth conditions after months in zero gravity and speaking to doctors and space officials. They were then carried into an inflatable tent for initial medical checks.
"I'm doing great. I feel really good," Virts said.
After the check-up, the crew members were to be flown by helicopter to the city of Karaganda, where they were to board planes back home.
The mission's extension was caused by the failed launch of a Russian cargo ship in April.
The Soyuz rocket that failed in April is used to launch spacecraft carrying crews, so Russian space officials delayed the crew's return and further launches pending an investigation.
A Soyuz rocket successfully launched a satellite last week. Another Soyuz will launch a Progress cargo ship to the station in early July to be followed by the launch of a new crew later in the month.
The new crew will join Russians Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko, and NASA's Scott Kelly, who have remained in orbit. Kelly and Kornienko are in the midst of a yearlong orbital mission.

Copyright © 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Soyuz Capsule Returns Trio to Earth After Nearly 200 Days on Space Station
by Robert Z. Pearlman, collectSPACE.com Editor | June 11, 2015 10:01am ET

Three space station crew members have returned home to the Earth after spending nearly 200 days off the planet.
Descending under a parachute to a thruster-assisted soft touchdown at 9:44 a.m. EDT (1344 GMT; 7:44 p.m. local time), the trio's homecoming occurred about a month later than had been planned as Roscosmos worked to recover from the loss of an unmanned cargo vehicle in late April. NASA astronaut Terry Virts, cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov of Russia's federal space agency Roscosmos, and Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti with the European Space Agency (ESA) landed on board Russia's Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft on the steppe of Kazakhstan Thursday (June 11).
"We got to spend 200 days in space together, a few bonus days, but you just couldn't ask for a better group of people to spend this time in space with," Virts said before he and his crewmates left for Earth. [Video: Watch the Soyuz Capsule Land with Crew of 3]
Virts, Shkaplerov and Cristoforetti departed their home of six months on the International Space Station at 6:20 a.m. EDT (1020 GMT) Thursday, officially marking the end of the orbiting complex's 43rd expedition, its second longest mission in its almost 15-year history of being continuously crewed.
NASA astronaut Terry Virts (left), Russian cosmonaut Anton Shklaperov and Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti sit in chairs outside the Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft just minutes after they landed in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on June 11, 2015. They spent nearly 200 days on the International Space Station.
Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
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Virts on Wednesday handed over command of the station to cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, who is now the first four-time commander of the laboratory. Padalka, together with fellow cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko and NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, will serve as the station's Expedition 44 crew until the next Soyuz is launched, when they'll be joined by three new crewmembers.
The launch of Soyuz TMA-17M, with Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, NASA's Kjell Lindgren and Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), is now targeted for sometime between July 23 and 25. [Amazing Space Photos by Astronaut Terry Virts]
"When you go down from a crew of six to a crew of three, obviously you've lost half of your crew time available so it does have an impact," Kelly said in an interview with CBS News. "But it's an impact we plan for. We used to have a crew of three on board the space station and even at one time a crew of two people, so it's something we can adjust to. And we'll do just that."
Originally, Kelly, Kornienko and Padalka were expected to be alone on the station for only about two weeks, but the loss of Russia's Progress M-37M freighter on April 28 led to Russia delaying the Soyuz TMA-17M flight to late July as its investigation into the cargo craft's failure proceeded. To compensate, the return of the TMA-15M crew was held from May 13 to Thursday morning.
The Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft as seen after undocking from the International Space Station on June 11, 2015.
Credit: NASA/Scott Kelly via Twitter
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The additional time on orbit resulted in one crew member setting a couple of new records. Cristoforetti, who became the first Italian woman to fly into space when she lifted off with Virts and Shkaplerov in November, logged more time on one flight than any ESA astronaut or woman worldwide, spending a total of 199 days, 16 hours, and 42 minutes off the Earth.
Her prior station crewmates are also poised to set duration records. On June 28, Padalka will pass cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev's total of 803 days for the most time in space on multiple missions, while Kelly and Kornienko are now 75 days into the first year-long expedition on the International Space Station.
Soyuz TMA-15M was both Virts' and Shkaplerov's second space missions. Virts has now logged more than 213 days off Earth, ranking him 14th among the most experienced NASA astronauts. Shkaplerov ended this flight just shy of one year in space over the course of his two long-duration stays on the station, placing him 32nd on the list of space explorers worldwide.
During their time aboard the station, Virts, Shkaplerov and Cristoforetti conducted hundreds of science experiments, oversaw the arrival and departure of cargo vehicles, and assisted with the relocation of the station's supply module, the Leonardo PMM. Virts also ventured outside the station on three spacewalks to route the cables for a new adapter that will allow future Boeing and SpaceX commercial crew spacecraft to dock with the laboratory.
The Soyuz TMA-15M patch is based on the shape and features of an aircraft's attitude indicator or artificial horizon.
Credit: Roscosmos (Russian Federal Space Agency)
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The three also became the first to share space with their own custom LEGO minifigure versions of themselves, and Cristoforetti became the first person to sip from a freshly-brewed cup of Italian espresso using the ISSpresso coffee machine delivered and installed during her stay in space.
Now back on the Earth, the Soyuz TMA-15M crew were to receive brief medical exams before departing by helicopter to the town of Karaganda for a traditional Kazakh welcome ceremony. From there, Shkaplerov will leave for Star City, outside of Moscow, while Virts and Cristoforetti board a jet for NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

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