Keep the shuttle flying: Fwd: Soyuz TMA-19M launched to ISS

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: December 15, 2015 at 7:21:50 PM CST
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Subject: FW: Soyuz TMA-19M launched to ISS

Soyuz Rocket Carrier Blasts Off From Baikonur With New ISS Crew

14:11 15.12.2015(updated 14:20 15.12.2015)
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A Soyuz TMA-19M rocket carrier has been launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with three new crew members heading to the International Space Station.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The new crew members are Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, NASA astronaut Timothy Kopra, and European Space Agency astronaut Timothy Peake.
The Soyuz is set to dock with the International Space Station six hours after it was launched at 17:12 GMT.

© 2015 Sputnik All rights reserved.

By William Harwood CBS News December 15, 2015, 6:56 AM
Soyuz rocket blasts off, carrying 3-man crew to space station
Russian Soyuz rocket climbs away from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on December 15, 2015, kicking off four-orbit, six-hour flight to carry three fresh crew members to International Space Station NASA

A Russian Soyuz rocket roared to life and shot into space Tuesday, boosting a three-man crew into orbit for a six-hour flight to the International Space Station.
Just four days after three station fliers returned to a snowy landing just a few hundred miles away, Soyuz TMA-19M commander Yuri Malenchenko, NASA flight engineer Timothy Kopra and British astronaut Timothy Peake thundered away from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 6:03:09 a.m. EST (GMT-5; 5:03 p.m. local time).
Taking off under a clear blue sky about an hour before sunset, the workhorse rocket, mounted atop the same launch pad used by Yuri Gagarin at the dawn of the space age, climbed away to the east atop a torrent of brilliant exhaust, leaving a crackling roar in its wake.
Television views from inside the central crew module showed Malenchenko, one of Russia's most experienced cosmonauts, calmly monitoring cockpit displays with Kopra, acting as co-pilot, strapped in to his left. In another view, Peake, strapped in on Malenchenko's right, flashed a vigorous thumbs up.
The Soyuz TMA-19M crew poses at the base of the launch pad before strapping in for takeoff. Top to bottom: commander Yuri Malenchenko, NASA flight engineer Timothy Kopra and European Space Agency astronaut Timothy Peake.
NASA TV
And providing a rare, if not unprecedented view, live television from the International Space Station provided an unusual shot of the Soyuz climbing toward space behind the lab complex, the rocket's gossamer exhaust plume clearly visible against the limb of the Earth.
The ascent appeared to go smoothly and about nine minutes after liftoff, the rocket's third stage shut down and the Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft was released to fly on its own. A few moments after that, the spacecraft's solar arrays unfolded and navigation antennas snapped into place.
The space station passed over the launch site a few minutes before liftoff and by the time the Soyuz reached orbit, the lab was some 1,983 miles ahead. But if all goes well, the spacecraft will execute an autonomous rendezvous with the International Space Station, lining up on the Russian Rassvet module and gliding in for docking around 12:24 p.m.
Standing by to welcome Malenchenko and his crewmates aboard will be Expedition 46 commander Scott Kelly, Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Volkov. Kelly and Kornienko have been on board since last March and are in the home stretch of a nearly one-year mission. They plan to return to Earth with Volkov aboard the Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft on March 1.
Last Friday, three other crew members -- Oleg Kononenko, Kimiya Yui and Kjell Lindgren -- departed and returned to Earth aboard the Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft to close out a 141-day mission.
ESA astronaut Timothy Peake flashes a thumbs up at a cockpit camera during the climb to space. Peak is making his first spaceflight and only the second by a British citizen.
NASA TV
With the arrival of Malenchenko and his crewmates, the station crew will be back up to full strength for a busy few days of work before a break for the Christmas holiday.
While the new crew gets familiar with the lab complex, work to unload an ATK Cygnus cargo ship that arrived last Wednesday will continue amid preparations for the arrival of a Russian Progress cargo ship on Dec. 23.
Among the items on board the Cygnus are holiday gifts for the crew and a refurbished spacesuit that may be used in mid January for a spacewalk to replace a shorted-out solar array component that has knocked one of the station's power channels out of action.
Then, on Feb. 3, Malenchenko and Volkov plan to venture outside for a Russian spacewalk. Another U.S. spacewalk is planned in April to continue work to rig the station for installation of new docking mechanisms needed by commercial crew ships being built by Boeing and SpaceX.
Along with the spacewalks, Malenchenko, Kopra and Peake expect up to six visiting supply ships during their stay in orbit. Along with the Progress launch on Dec. 21 and docking two days later, SpaceX plans to resume station resupply flights in early February following a launch failure last June.
Two more Cygnus missions are expected before the new crew departs on June 5, along with another Progress and yet another SpaceX Dragon cargo ship.
"It's going to be an exciting time," Kopra said. "I think we'll have most of the ports occupied when we arrive between all the Soyuz and resupply vehicles. Tim and I expect to see ... maybe a couple of SpaceX vehicles and maybe another Orbital ATK vehicle. It's a pretty unique aspect of our job in that we use the robotic arm to grapple this hovering spaceship so that we an dock it onto space station. That'll be a sight."
The International Space Station passed over the Baikonur Cosmodrome a few minutes before the Soyuz TMA-19M crew blasted off. A few minutes later, a camera on board the station captured a view of the Soyuz climbing toward space.
NASA TV
Malenchenko ranks seventh on the list of most experienced cosmonauts, logging 641 days in space across five flights including a stint as commander of the Russian Mir station, a shuttle flight and three tours as commander of the International Space Station.
Kopra is a veteran Army helicopter pilot who spent two months aboard the space station in 2009. He was assigned to a February 2011 shuttle mission, but was injured in a bicycle crash a few weeks before launch and was bumped from the crew. The shuttle program ended two flights after that.
"I might be one of the most grateful astronauts to be able to fly in space because once you lose something you really recognize how important it is," he said in an interview. "So to this point, I would say the two years of training I've had has been 100 percent worth it, and I'm very excited about going."
Kopra and his crewmates initially expected to spend about five months in orbit, but changes to the Russian launch schedule added nearly a month to their time aloft.
"Really, the first couple of weeks you're on space station and in space you're really acclimating to your environment, you're getting used to the fact you're in zero gravity and sort of getting your space legs, so to speak," he said. "This time, there'll be plenty of time to get on track and do the things we want to do on board.
"Space station is a great place to live and work, and I'm just so excited I have the opportunity to spend time on board."
Peake, an astronaut with the European Space Agency, is only the second British citizen to fly in space and the first to be assigned to a long-duration space station mission. While he's looking forward to carrying out research on the station, he said he couldn't wait to get a chance to look down on Earth from the lab's multi-window cupola.
"I doubt that that experience will ever leave you," he said. "Living and working in weightlessness is going to be incredibly exciting. I've only experienced it very briefly when we do our parabolic flight training in the back of an aircraft. But to actually let your entire body adapt to this new environment and to experience sleeping and eating and working (in weightlessness), that's just going to be amazing."

© 2015 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Photos: Crew transport rolled out at Baikonur
Posted on December 14, 2015 by Stephen Clark
Tugged along a historic route leading to the launch pad where Yuri Gagarin took off 1961 to become the first person in space, a Soyuz rocket rolled out of its assembly hangar in Kazakhstan and stood up on its launch mount Sunday.
The photos below show the rollout at dawn, two days before the Soyuz rocket's scheduled launch at 1103:10 GMT (6:03:10 a.m. EST) Tuesday with a three-man crew heading for the International Space Station.
Yuri Malenchenko, beginning his sixth space mission, will be in the commander's seat of the Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft. NASA astronaut Tim Kopra — on his second spaceflight — will sit to Malenchenko's left acting as Soyuz flight engineer, and rookie European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake will ride in the right seat.
The launch is set for 5:03 p.m. local time at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the Central Asia launch base under a long-term lease by the Russian government.
The capsule will deploy in orbit less than nine minutes later, unfurl its solar panels and navigation antennas, then begin a series of engine firings to match the space station's trajectory, setting up for a docking to the lab's Rassvet module at 1724 GMT (12:24 p.m. EST).
The Soyuz docking will raise the station's crew size back to six, with the fresh crewmen joining commander Scott Kelly and cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Volkov.
Photo credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Photo credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Photo credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2015
Photo credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Photo credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Photo credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Photo credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Photo credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2015
Photo credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Photo credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Photo credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2015
Photo credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Photo credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Photo credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Photo credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Photo credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Photo credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Photo credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Photo credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Photo credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Photo credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Photo credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Photo credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

© 2015 Spaceflight Now Inc.

Rocket with three-man crew blasts off to space station
The Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft carrying the crew of Timothy Peake of Britain, Yuri Malenchenko of Russia …
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The Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft carrying the crew of Timothy Peake of Britain, Yuri Malenchenko of Russ …
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Photographers take pictures as the Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft carrying the crew of Timothy Peake of Br …
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The Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft carrying the crew of Timothy Peake of Britain, Yuri Malenchenko of Russ …
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The Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft carrying the crew of Timothy Peake of Britain, Yuri Malenchenko of Russ …
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Photographers take pictures as the Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft carrying the crew of Timothy Peake of Br …
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From left: British astronaut Tim Peake, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and U.S. astronaut Tim Ko …
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Member of the International Space Station expedition 46/47, British ESA astronaut Timothy Peake gest …
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Crew member Timothy Peake of Britain gestures after donning a space suit at the Baikonur cosmodrome, …
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British astronaut Tim Peake, member of the main crew of the expedition to the International Space St …
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The International Space Station (ISS) crew members Yuri Malenchenko of Russia (front), Timothy Kopra …
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Member of the International Space Station expedition 46/47, British ESA astronaut Timothy Peake wave …
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Member of the International Space Station expedition 46/47, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko durin …
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The International Space Station (ISS) crew members (L to R) Timothy Peake of Britain, Yuri Malenchen …
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Orthodox priests conduct a blessing in front of the Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft set on the launchpad at …
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From left: British astronaut Tim Peake, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and U.S. astronaut Tim Ko …
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The International Space Station (ISS) crew member Timothy Kopra of the U.S. is assisted during a spa …
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Members of the International Space Station expedition 46/47, British ESA astronaut Timothy Peake (L) …
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Crew member Timothy Kopra of the U.S. smiles after donning a space suit at the Baikonur cosmodrome, …
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The International Space Station (ISS) crew member Timothy Peake of Britain looks on during his space …
BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (Reuters) - A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying a three-man international crew, including Britain's first official astronaut, Tim Peake, blasted off on Tuesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The rocket carrying the Soyuz TMA-19M spaceship lifted off at 1703 p.m. local time (1103 GMT), beginning its six-hour journey to the International Space Station, and successfully reached its designated orbit about nine minutes later.
As well as Peake, the crew includes commander Yuri Malenchenko, a former Russian Air Force pilot and a veteran of long-duration space flights, and NASA astronaut Tim Kopra.
Peake, 43, a former army major who is on a six-month mission for the European Space Agency (ESA), became the first Briton to go into space since Helen Sharman traveled on a Soviet spacecraft for eight days in 1991.
He is also the first astronaut officially representing the British government and wearing a Union Jack flag on his arm.
The same trio of Malenchenko, Kopra and Peake are set to return to Earth on June 5 next year.
(Reporting by Shamil Zhumatov, Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Dmitry Solovyov and Angus MacSwan)

Copyright © 2015 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

Liftoff! New Space Station Crew Launch Includes a First for the UK
by Sarah Lewin, Staff Writer | December 15, 2015 06:33am ET

A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying NASA astronaut Tim Kopra, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and British astronaut Tim Peake - the United Kingdom's first space station astronaut, launches into orbit from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on Dec. 15, 2015.
Credit: NASA TV View full size image
Two experienced fliers and a space newbie — the first British astronaut to visit the International Space Station — launched spaceward on a Russian rocket today (Dec. 15) to begin a six-month science mission on the laboratory in orbit.
Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko (top), NASA astronaut Tim Kopra (center) and British astronaut Tim Peake of the European Space Agency wave farewell as they board their Soyuz rocket for a launch to the International Space Station on Dec. 15, 2015 at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The trio launched on a six-month mission to the station.
Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
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At 6:03 a.m. EST (1103 GMT) today, American astronaut Tim Kopra of NASA, British astronaut Tim Peake (of the European Space Agency) and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a 6-hour journey to the space station. Malenchenko, a veteran of six spaceflights (including trips to the station as well as to Russia's Mir space station), is commanding the Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft. The crewmembers are part of Expedition 46 mission to the International Space Station, and will remain onboard for Expedition 47.
"A flawless flight into orbit today," NASA spokesman Dan Hout said during live launch commentary.
British astronaut Tim Peake of the European Space Agency gives a thumb's up sign while launching to the International Space Station on a Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft on Dec. 15, 2015. He is the first U.K. astronaut to visit the space station.
Credit: NASA TV
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When they arrive, they will join current space station commander and NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Volkov. Kelly and Kornienko are a few short months away from the end of their one-year space mission. When the trio departs in March, Kopra, a veteran of one previous space mission, will take over as commander.
The craft is expected to rendezvous and dock on the Russian segment at approximately 12:24 p.m. EST (1724 GMT). The hatches will open between the Soyuz and space station are expected to be opened by 2:25 p.m EST (1925 GMT). Those events will be covered live on NASA TV (and you can view the webcast on Space.com).
The mission is Peake's first time traveling to space, and he will also be the first British astronaut to live aboard the space station.
"The U.K. has always been part of the European Space Agency, but only recently has it been part of the Human Spaceflight Program," Peake said during a news conference in September. "And that really opens the door for Great Britain; it opens the door in terms of the scientific community that can now enjoy participating in the scientific research we do onboard the space station. It also opens the door for U.K. industry to become involved in some of the engineering and technological work that's being done onboard the space station."
The three Expedition 46-47 crewmembers — Yuri Malenchenko, Tim Peake and Tim Kopra (left to right) — play chess during training. Only three men alive know who won this match… and they're not telling, because they've got more important things to do. They're in space.
Credit: NASA
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The flight is also a significant one for Kopra — he was slated to fly on the space shuttle Discovery in 2011 after two years of training, but he was injured in a bicycle accident a month before the launch. (This time around, he said, he was "trying to live in bubble wrap" before the launch.)
During the news conference and in later interviews, all three of the crewmembers talked animatedly about the science they'll get to perform while aboard: projects that will span human research, biology and biotechnology, astrophysics research and physical sciences, NASA officials said in a mission summary. Peake particularly called out a medical research task, where they will grow crystals from disease-causing proteins in microgravity. Because there is so little to disturb the protein growth, they will be able to grow large, pure crystals to investigate drugs that can counter them.
Kopra mentioned the research on the astronauts themselves — a staple of space station investigation. For one, the astronauts will photograph their eyes to investigate how they change in lowered gravity, and they will also take ultrasounds guided by ground personnel. The crew will also have a chance to observe the Earth's atmosphere and ionosphere from afar and compile data, as well as install a furnace into the Japanese module and investigate flame combustion. Plus, they'll test out an inflatable capsule that could someday be used as a portable habitat in low-Earth orbit, on the moon or on Mars.
Malenchenko said he's looking forward to working with the crewmembers from the one-year mission because of their extensive experience. The veteran crew will be able to support the new arrivals, but the three newly arrived astronauts will also be able to bring new energy to the tasks.
"It's going to be a very interesting mission," Malenchenko said through a translator. "We're going to have several EVAs [spacewalks], and it's going to be a very intense research program. […] Every spaceflight is a very interesting flight, and in this case, it's going to be a particularly interesting mission."
After the departure of Kelly, Kornienko and Volkov in March, three new crewmembers will travel to join Kopra, Peake and Malenchenko for Expedition 47: NASA astronaut Jeff Williams and cosmonauts Oleg Skriprochka and Alexey Ovchinin.

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