Keep the shuttle flying: Fwd: Expedition 48 Crew Lands Safely

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: September 7, 2016 at 10:36:41 AM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Expedition 48 Crew Lands Safely

Excellent set of photos of landing and recovery of the crew.
Gary

PCO. Manned transport spacecraft "Soyuz TMA-20M" undocked from the ISS and sent TO EARTH
09.07.2016 00:54
The transport manned spacecraft (TPC) «Soyuz TMA-20M" with the crew on board the September 7, 2016 at 00:51 MSK successfully undocked from the International Space Station (ISS).

On board the ship the crew members and participants 47 and 48 long-term missions to the ISS astronauts Roscosmos Alexei Ovchinin, Oleg Skripochka and NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams.

TPK "Soyuz TMA-20M" was part of the ISS since 19 March 2016. During his stay on the International Space Station (ISS) crew performed a program of scientific and applied research and experimentation, to maintain the health of the ISS and conducted its work on retrofitting the equipment to be delivered by cargo ships.

In accordance with the calculations of service ballistics navigation support the Mission Control Center (MCC) lander TPK "Soyuz TMA-20M" will land at 04:14 MSK on the territory of Kazakhstan to the southeast of the city of Zhezkazgan.

ROSCOSMOS. CREW "Soyuz TMA-20M" returned safely to EARTH
07.09.2016 4:18
Members of the crew of manned spacecraft "Soyuz TMA-20M" returned safely to Earth. The descent capsule with astronauts Roscosmos Alexei Ovchinin, Oleg Skripochka and NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams landed in a predetermined area of the Kazakh steppe September 7, 2016 at 04:14 MSK. All operations on the descent from orbit and landing went normally. Length of stay in space "business trip" crew long mission ISS-47/48 was 172 days.

This flight has completed commissioning of spacecraft "Soyuz" TMA-M series. They were replaced by manned spacecraft MS series. Interestingly, the first violins, Oleg went to the "space trip" on the first manned spacecraft "Soyuz" TMA-M series in 2010, six years later, he became a flight engineer on the last ship of the series.

During his stay on the International Space Station (ISS) crew performed a program of scientific and applied research and experimentation, to maintain the health of the ISS and conducted its work on retrofitting the equipment to be delivered by cargo ships.

·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·

Photo: EPA / Sergei Chirikov

Государственная корпорация по космической деятельности "РОСКОСМОС"
107996, ГСП-6, г. Москва, ул. Щепкина, д.42
Тел.: +7 (495) 631-97-61
Факс: +7 (495) 688-90-63

Новости
РКК «Энергия»: космический корабль «Союз ТМА-20М» завершил полугодовой полёт
07.09.2016
Сегодня, 7 сентября, экипаж транспортного пилотируемого корабля (ТПК) «Союз ТМА-20М» возвратился на Землю после завершения работы 48-й длительной экспедиции на Международной космической станции (МКС).
Корабль расстыковался с малым исследовательским модулем (МИМ2) «Поиск» МКС в 00:51 по московскому времени. Приземление спускаемого аппарата корабля с экипажем в составе космонавтов РОСКОСМОСА Алексея ОВЧИНИНА, Олега СКРИПОЧКИ и астронавта НАСА Джеффри УИЛЛЬЯМСА состоялось в 04:14 мск в 147 км юго-восточнее города Жезказгана в Казахстане.
Для поисково-спасательного обеспечения спуска и приземления ТПК «Союз ТМА-20М» было задействовано 3 самолета, 12 вертолетов и 6 поисково-спасательных машин. Оперативно прибывшие на место посадки специалисты открыли люк и эвакуировали космонавтов из спускаемого аппарата.
ТПК «Союз ТМА-20М» стал последним кораблём модификации «ТМА-М» перед началом эксплуатации кораблей новой серии «МС». Он был запущен к МКС 19 марта 2016 года. В общей сложности космонавты находились на орбите в течение 173 суток.
Экипаж выполнял работы с российскими транспортными пилотируемыми кораблями «Союз ТМА-19М», «Союз ТМА-20М», «Союз МС», грузовыми кораблями «Прогресс М-М» и «Прогресс МС», американскими грузовыми кораблями Dragon, Cygnus; поддерживал работоспособность станции; принимал участие в выполнении программы научно-прикладных исследований и мероприятиях по связям с общественностью, а также проводил бортовые фотосъемки. Программой научно-прикладных исследований было предусмотрено 60 экспериментов различного профиля — медико-биологические, геофизические, биотехнологические и др.
После расстыковки корабля «Союз ТМА-20М» со станцией работу на её борту продолжил экипаж в составе: Анатолия ИВАНИШИНА (Россия), Такуя ОНИШИ (Япония) и Кэтлин РУБИНС (США).
Транспортный пилотируемый корабль (ТПК) «Союз ТМА-М» разработки и производства РКК «Энергия» является модернизированной версией корабля «Союз ТМА». Корабль предназначен для доставки экипажей численностью до трех человек и сопутствующих грузов на Международную космическую станцию (МКС), а также для их возврата на Землю. Во время нахождения на МКС ТПК «Союз ТМА-М» выполняет функции корабля-спасателя и поддерживается в постоянной готовности к срочному спуску экипажа на Землю.

ПАО «РКК «Энергия» — ведущее предприятие ракетно-космической отрасли промышленности, головная организация по пилотируемым космическим системам. Корпорация ведет работы по созданию автоматических космических и ракетных систем (средств выведения и межорбитальной транспортировки), высокотехнологичных систем различного назначения для использования в некосмических сферах. С августа 2014 года Корпорацию возглавляет Владимир СОЛНЦЕВ.

Фото с сайта РОСКОСМОСА
Пресс-центр РКК "Энергия"

© 2000 - 2016 S.P. Korolev RSC "Energia"

Image of the Day
Sept. 6, 2016
Expedition 48 Crew Lands Safely on Earth
The Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft is seen as it lands with Expedition 48 crew members NASA astronaut Jeff Williams, Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, and Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016 (Kazakh time). Williams, Ovchinin, and Skripochka are returning after 172 days in space where they served as members of the Expedition 47 and 48 crews onboard the International Space Station.
Image Credit: NASA/Bills Ingalls
NASA's Record-breaking Astronaut, Crewmates Safely Return to Earth
Last Updated: Sept. 6, 2016
Editor: Steve Fox

Expedition 48
Sept. 6, 2016
CONTRACT RELEASE 16-093
NASA's Record-breaking Astronaut, Crewmates Safely Return to Earth
Astronaut Jeff Williams of NASA and cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka, of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, safely returned to Earth after completing a 172-day mission aboard the International Space Station.
Credits: NASA TV
After safely returning Sept. 6, 2016 from his latest mission to the International Space Station, veteran NASA astronaut Jeff Williams now has spent 534 days in space, making him first on the all-time NASA astronaut list.
Credits: NASA TV
NASA astronaut and Expedition 48 Commander Jeff Williams returned to Earth Tuesday after his U.S. record-breaking mission aboard the International Space Station.
Williams and his Russian crewmates Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka, of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, landed in their Soyuz TMA-20M at 9:13 p.m. EDT southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan (7:13 a.m. Sept. 7, local time).
Having completed his fourth mission, Williams now has spent 534 days in space, making him first on the all-time NASA astronaut list. Skripochka now has 331 days in space on two flights, while Ovchinin spent 172 days in space on his first.
"No other U.S. astronaut has Jeff's time and experience aboard the International Space Station. From his first flight in 2000, when the station was still under construction, to present day where the focus is science, technology development and fostering commercialization. Jeff even helped prepare the space station for future dockings of commercial spacecraft under NASA's Commercial Crew Program," said Kirk Shireman, ISS Program manager at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "We're incredibly proud of what Jeff has accomplished off the Earth for the Earth."
Williams was instrumental in preparing the station for the future arrival of U.S. commercial crew spacecraft. The first International Docking Adapter was installed during a spacewalk by Williams and fellow NASA astronaut Kate Rubins Aug. 19. Outfitted with a host of sensors and systems, the adapter's main purpose is to connect spacecraft bringing astronauts to the station in the future. Its first users are expected to be Boeing's CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft, now in development in partnership with NASA.
During his time on the orbital complex, Williams ventured outside the confines of the space station for a second spacewalk with Rubins to retract a spare thermal control radiator and install two new high-definition cameras.
Together, the Expedition 48 crew members contributed to hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science aboard humanity's only orbiting laboratory.
The crew members also welcomed five cargo spacecraft during their stay. Williams was involved in the grapple of Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft in March, the company's fourth commercial resupply mission, and SpaceX's eighth Dragon spacecraft cargo delivery in April, and welcomed a second Dragon delivery in July. Two Russian ISS Progress cargo craft also docked to the station in April and July delivering tons of supplies.
Expedition 49 continues operating the station with Anatoly Ivanishin of Roscosmos in command. He, Rubins, and Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, will operate the station for more than two weeks until the arrival of three new crew members.
Shane Kimbrough of NASA and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko of Roscosmos are scheduled to launch Sept. 23, U.S. time, from Baikonur, Kazakhstan.
Check out the full NASA TV schedule and video streaming information at:
http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv
Keep up with the International Space Station, and its research and crews, at:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
Get breaking news, images and features from the station on Instagram and Twitter at:
http://instagram.com/iss
and
http://www.twitter.com/Space_Station
-end-
Cheryl Warner
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
cheryl.m.warner@nasa.gov
Dan Huot
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
daniel.g.huot@nasa.gov
Last Updated: Sept. 6, 2016
Editor: Karen Northon

By William Harwood CBS News September 6, 2016, 11:48 AM
Station fliers return to Earth with flawless landing
Last Updated Sep 6, 2016 10:36 PM EDT
Less than a week after winding up a successful spacewalk, outgoing space station commander Jeff Williams, America's most experienced astronaut, joined two Russian cosmonauts for a fiery return to Earth Tuesday, closing out a 172-day mission with an on-target landing in Kazakhstan.
Descending under a billowing orange-and-white parachute, the charred Soyuz crew module completed a jarring rocket-assisted touchdown at 9:13 p.m. EDT (GMT-4; 7:13 a.m. Wednesday local time).
The Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft is seen as it lands with Expedition 48 crew members NASA astronaut Jeff Williams, Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, and Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016(Kazakh time).
NASA/Bill Ingalls, (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
As sometimes happens, the capsule tipped over on its side after landing, but Russian recovery crews stationed nearby were on the scene in minutes to tilt the spacecraft upright and to help the station fliers, getting their first taste of gravity in five-and-a-half months, out of the cramped compartment.
Williams, Soyuz commander Alexey Ovchinin and flight engineer Oleg Skripochka appeared healthy and in good spirits as they were carried out of the descent module and set down in recliners for satellite phone calls home while flight surgeons carried out quick medical checks.
Outgoing space station commander Jeff Williams, left, Soyuz TMA-20M commander Alexey Ovchinin, center, and flight engineer Oleg Skripochka relax in recliners on the steppe of Kazakhstan after an on-target landing.
Recovery crews planned to fly all three crew members by helicopter to Karaganda later in the day for an official welcome home ceremony. From there, Williams was to board a NASA jet for the long flight back home to Houston. Ovchinin and Skripochka planned to head for Star City near Moscow for debriefing and reunions with family members.
"I will certainly miss this view!" Williams tweeted from the station early Tuesday, sending down a photo of Earth's limb in brilliant sunlight. "Vast gratitude toward my crewmates, ground teams, supporting friends, and family."
"We've enjoyed a great stay up here over the last five-and-a-half months," he said earlier. "This is a very significant time, in my opinion, in the life of the space station, going into the full utilization mode, being the orbiting laboratory we've always said it was going to be."
Russian recovery crews presented Ovchinin with a watermelon shortly after landing.
NASA/Roscosmos
Williams, Ovchinin and Skripochka undocked from the lab's upper Poisk module at 5:51 p.m., slowly backing away as the two spacecraft passed more than 250 miles above the western Pacific Ocean.
Looking on from inside the station were Expedition 49 commander Anatoly Ivanishin, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi and NASA astronaut Kate Rubins. Launched to the station July 6 aboard the Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft, Ivanishin and his crewmates will have the space lab to themselves until Sept. 25 when three fresh crew members arrive.
"We'll be missing you here," Ivanishin said Monday during a change-of-command ceremony. "Have fun riding though the atmosphere, enjoy seeing plasma in the windows and have a very safe, and exceptionally soft, landing. All the best."
After making sure the Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft was ready for its descent, Ovchinin, flanked on the left by Skripochka and on the right by Williams, monitored a computer controlled de-orbit rocket firing starting at 8:21 p.m.
The four-minute 41-second burn slowed the ship by 286 mph, just enough to drop the far side of the orbit deep into Earth's atmosphere. After a 25-minute free fall to just above the top of the discernible atmosphere, the three modules making up the Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft separated.
A few moments after that, the central crew cabin, the only module protected by a heat shield, slammed into the atmosphere at an altitude of 62 miles and a velocity of some 17,000 mph.
Using atmospheric friction to slow down, the descent module's main parachute deployed at an altitude of a little less than seven miles and the spacecraft settled to the steppe of Kazakhstan.
Jeff Williams, front left, Oleg Skripochka, front center, and Soyuz TMA-20M commander Alexey Ovchinin, front right, hand over the station to their Soyuz MS-01 crewmates during a change-of-command ceremony Monday. Floating behind them are Kate Rubins, back left, Expedition 49 commander Anatoly Ivanishin, back center, and Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi.
NASA
Asked what he was looking forward to the most, Williams said "obviously, family is the first thing, my wife, she's the real hero in all this putting up with me being up here that many days."
"I look forward to quiet, just relaxing someplace, enjoying the views, enjoying the smells of Earth, all those things that we normally take for granted," he told CBS News last month. "You miss that when you're up here. We have continuous noise up here from fans and pumps; it's not loud, but it's continuous."
All in all, he said, "just the simple things in life. Good food, anything my wife wants to cook, I look forward to that, those kinds of things, friends."
Williams and his two crewmates were launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on March 18 and landing closes out a busy increment highlighted by two spacewalks, the arrival of two Russian Progress cargo ships, a pair of SpaceX Dragon freighters, an Orbital ATK Cygnus supply craft and the Soyuz MS-01 crew.
During a spacewalk Aug. 19, Williams and Rubins attached a new docking mechanism to the front of the station that will allow new commercial crew ferry ships being built by Boeing and SpaceX to dock at the lab complex, ending NASA's sole reliance on Russia's Soyuz for transportation.
During a second spacewalk last Thursday, Rubins and Williams, making his fifth EVA overall, retracted a cooling radiator, installed two high-definition cameras and performed other routine maintenance. The two astronauts logged 12 hours and 46 minutes during the two excursions, pushing Williams' overall total through five EVAs to 31 hours and 55 minutes.
Those spacewalks cover much of the history of the International Space Station with his first excursion coming during a shuttle maintenance mission in May 2000. He then ventured outside a second time with a Russian cosmonaut in June 2006 to perform maintenance on the Russian segment of the station. Two months after that, he went back outside with a European Space Agency astronaut to work on the station's cooling system.
Williams served as commander of Expedition 22 during his second long-duration stay aboard the lab and again as commander of Expedition 48 during this most recent mission.
Astronaut Kate Rubins captured this photo of the Soyuz re-entry. The crew compartment, protected by a heat shield, can be seen at lower left while the upper and lower equipment and propulsion modules can be seen burning up in the atmosphere.
NASA
With touchdown, Ovchinin, completing his first space flight, will have logged 172 days in space while flight engineer Skripochka's record over two flights will stand at 331 days.
For Williams, the end of the mission marked a personal milestone. On Aug. 20, he surpassed the U.S. record for most cumulative time in space -- 520 days -- that was set earlier this year by astronaut Scott Kelly at the end of his nearly yearlong mission.
With landing Tuesday, Williams' mark will stand at 534 days aloft over four missions, moving him up to 14th on the list of most experienced spacemen. The overall record is held by Gennady Padalka, who has logged 878 days in space over five missions.
"I appreciate, Jeff, your efforts as space station commander," Ivanishin said during the change-of-command ceremony. "I'll take care of the crew and the station. And I promise you, when you return to celebrate your first 1,000 days in space, the station will be in better shape!"
Williams, Ovchinin and Skripochka will be replaced aboard the station by the Soyuz MS-02 crew, scheduled for launch from Baikonur on Sept. 23. After a two-day rendezvous, vehicle commander Andrey Borisenko, flight engineer Sergey Ryzhikov and NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough will dock at the Poisk module to boost the lab's crew back to six.
Ivanishin, Onishi and Rubins are scheduled to return to Earth Oct. 30.

© 2016 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Record-Setting Astronaut Lands with Two Cosmonauts from Space Station
By Robert Z. Pearlman, collectSPACE.com Editor | September 6, 2016 11:00pm ET
The Soyuz TMA-20M space capsule is seen landing with NASA astronaut Jeff Williams and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Skripochka and Alexey Ovchinin on the steppe of Kazakhstan, Sept. 6, 2016.
Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
NASA astronaut Jeff Williams safely landed back on Earth on Tuesday night (Sept. 6), setting a new, potentially long-lasting record for the most time spent in space by an American.
Williams, along with Oleg Skripochka and Alexey Ovchinin of Russia's space agency Roscosmos, departed from the International Space Station at 5:51 p.m. EDT (2151 GMT) and touched down three hours later on the steppe of Kazakhstan aboard Russia's Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft.
At the point of their landing, at 9:13 p.m. EDT (0113 GMT or 7:13 a.m. local time, Sept. 7), Williams added 172 days to his four-spaceflight career, bringing his total time off the planet to 534 days, 2 hours and 48 minutes. The previous record holder, Scott Kelly, logged a three-flight total of 520 days, 10 hours and 30 minutes in March. [The Most Extreme Human Spaceflight Records]
Landing about 90 miles (146 kilometers) southeast of the Kazakh town of Dzhezkazgan, Williams, Skripochka and Ovchinin were met by Russian recovery team members, who helped the astronaut and two cosmonauts out of their capsule and into chairs to begin their readjustment to gravity.
The crew's trip home marked the official end of the space station's Expedition 48 and the start of Expedition 49.
NASA astronaut Jeff Williams (left) and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Skripochka and Alexey Ovchinin on the steppe of Kazakhstan after landing safely on Sept. 6, 2016.
Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
"We've enjoyed a great stay up here over the last almost six months," stated Williams during a change of command ceremony on Monday (Sep. 5). "We especially enjoyed our stay with the entire crew of Expedition 48."
"I appreciate, Jeff, your efforts as the station's commander. You really did much to ensure success of the expedition," said Anatoly Ivanishin, commander of Expedition 49.
In addition to Ivanishin, remaining on the orbital laboratory are astronauts Kate Rubins of NASA and Takuya Onishi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). Three more Expedition 49 crewmates are scheduled to launch on Sept. 23. Cosmonauts Andrey Borisenko and Sergey Ryzhikov, together with NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough will arrive on board Soyuz MS-02, the second of Russia's new line of upgraded spacecraft.
Williams, Skripochka and Ovchinin arrived at the station on March 18. During their 172 days in orbit, the astronaut and two cosmonauts conducted hundreds of experiments and technology demonstrations, highlighted by the deployment of the first human-rated expandable habitat, the BEAM or Bigelow Expandable Activity Module.
They also helped with the arrival of several resupply ships, including SpaceX's Dragon capsule, Orbital ATK's Cygnus resupply freighter and Russian Progress capsules.
"This is a very significant time, in my opinion, in the life of the space station," remarked Williams. "Going into the full utilization mode — being that orbiting laboratory that we've always said it was going to be — and just broadening what is going on here on station in ways that I hoped for, and for a period of time, I have to confess, I wondered if we were going to see it to fruition."
"Now I am confident we are going to see the exploitation of the International Space Station and take full advantage of the opportunities that it gives for all humankind on Earth."
NASA astronaut Jeff Williams waves while resting in a chair shortly after he and Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka landed their Soyuz TMA-20M capsule in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Sept. 7, 2016 Kazakh time (Sept. 6 EDT). The trio spent 172 days in space living on the International Space Station.
Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
During his stay, Williams also performed two spacewalks, totaling almost 13 hours. Joined by Rubins for both extravehicular activities (EVA), Williams helped to install the first international docking adapter to support Boeing's CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX's Dragon commercial crew vehicles, as well as retracted a radiator that serves as a part of the station's cooling system.
This was Williams' fourth flight to the station and third long-duration stay. His first mission on the space shuttle Atlantis in 2000 preceded the space station's first expedition crew taking up residency.
"The International Space Station now spans, it occurred to me this week, generations," Williams said Monday. "We're in the second generation of crew and flight controllers and engineers and all the disciplines [that] it takes to make this work."
"And the outlook is good. We're looking forward to another generation, perhaps," Williams observed. "There is nothing in the history of spaceflight that comes close to that — the generational effort, especially in the international setting."
Williams now ranks 14th for time spent in space among all space explorers worldwide. That list is topped by Gennady Padalka, who has spent more than 878 days in Earth orbit on five spaceflights.
The only other NASA astronaut approaching Williams' U.S. record, Peggy Whitson, was expected to surpass his 534 days during her next expedition beginning in November. A recent change in landing dates however, will mean she will return to Earth in April 2017 three days shy of the title.
For Skripochka and Ovchinin, the landing marked the end of their second and first flights, respectively.
Williams, Skripochka and Ovchinin traveled a total of 72.8 million miles (117.2 million km) during 2,752 orbits.
The Soyuz TMA-20M crew will now part ways. Skripochka and Ovchinin will return home to Star City, Russia, located near Moscow. Williams will fly on a NASA jet to Houston.

© 1999-2016 collectSPACE.com All rights reserved.

AmericaSpace
For a nation that explores
September 6th, 2016
Expedition 48 Crew Wraps Up Six-Month Space Station Mission
By Ben Evans

Wrapping up his fourth space mission, Jeff Williams is now the United States' most experienced space traveler, with over 534 cumulative days away from the Home Planet. Photo Credit: NASA TV
After more than 172 days in space, U.S. national-record-breaking astronaut Jeff Williams and his Russian crewmates Alexei Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka have landed safely in south-central Kazakhstan, aboard their Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft. The trio undocked from the space-facing (or "zenith") Poisk module on the International Space Station (ISS) at 5:51 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, 6 September. Following a smooth de-orbit burn, they achieved a textbook landing at 9:13:53 p.m. EDT (7:13:53 a.m. local time on Wednesday, 7 September). In completing the fourth mission of his astronaut career, Williams has accrued more than 534 days away from the Home Planet, making him by far the most experienced U.S. spacefarer of all time.
Formally announced as a crew by NASA and its International Partners (IPs) in February 2014, Williams, Ovchinin and Skripochka pulled somewhat unusual backup crew duties for several different missions. Under normal circumstances, a backup crew for a given Soyuz flight to the space station skips one mission, before rotating into the prime crew slot for the third. For example, the backup crew for Soyuz MS-01—launched last 6/7 July—will rotate into the prime crew spot for Soyuz MS-03, which will fly in mid-November. However, the fortunes of Williams, Ovchinin and Skripochka were tightly entwined with their respective roles during the recent year-long mission of Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko.
This introduced a measure of complexity into the crew makeup, for whilst Kelly and Kornienko remained aboard the ISS for almost a full year, their Soyuz TMA-16M crewmate Gennadi Padalka joined them for only the first six months. In response, Williams and veteran cosmonaut Sergei Volkov served as backups for Kelly and Kornienko, with Ovchinin assuming the backup role for Padalka. In the meantime, Skripochka served on the backup crew for the Soyuz TMA-18M short-duration visiting mission in September 2015, before all three men rejoined to begin formal training for their Expedition 47/48 increment. Volkov, for his part, launched aboard Soyuz TMA-18M and accompanied Kelly and Kornienko for the second half of their long voyage.
The Soyuz TMA-20M crew, from left, consists of U.S. astronaut Jeff Williams and Russian cosmonauts Alexei Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka. Photo Credit: NASA
Finally, at 3:26 a.m. local time on 19 March 2016 (5:26 p.m. EDT on the 18th), Williams, Ovchinin and Skripocha launched into the night from Site 1/5—"Gagarin's Start"—at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Within minutes, their Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft reached orbit and following a now-standard four-orbit "fast rendezvous" they docked at the station's space-facing (or "zenith") Poisk module, about six hours later. The new arrivals were welcomed by Expedition 47 Commander Tim Kopra and his crewmates Yuri Malenchenko of Russia and Britain's Tim Peake, who had been in residence aboard the ISS since mid-December 2015.
At the start of his mission, Williams already stood as the United States' sixth most experienced spacefarer, with over 361 days accrued from a Space Shuttle flight and two previous long-duration ISS expeditions. With this mission, Williams became the first American to embark on as many as three long-duration flights, an accolade due to be matched by fellow astronaut—and fellow "Sardine"—Peggy Whitson in November 2016. As each day passed, however, Williams steadily crept up the U.S. experience table. By the end of March, he passed Don Pettit to enter fifth place and, by mid-April, he had also eclipsed Mike Foale, Whitson and Mike Fincke to position himself as the second most experienced U.S. astronaut in history, sitting behind Scott Kelly.
When he finally exceeded Kelly's cumulative total of 520 days on 24 August, Williams received an unexpected message of congratulations from his fellow Sardine. "I have a question for you," said the now-retired Kelly, flanked by a jocular Pettit in the Capcom's seat in Mission Control. "Have you got another 190 days in you?" Having trained as Kelly's backup to spend a full year in space, the allusion was obvious to Williams, who replied diplomatically: "That question's not for me; that's for my wife!"
Within the first month of his stay aboard the ISS, Williams welcomed both an Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo ship and a SpaceX Dragon to his new home. The OA-6 Cygnus, lofted atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 401 booster from Cape Canaveral on 23 March, arrived safely three days later and was robotically berthed at the Earth-facing (or "nadir") port of the station's Unity node. Poignantly, OA-6 was named in honor of STS-107 Commander Rick Husband, who died aboard shuttle Columbia in February 2003. Just two weeks after the arrival of OA-6, SpaceX's eighth dedicated Commercial Resupply Services Dragon (CRS-8) rose from the Cape, atop an Upgraded Falcon 9 booster, on 8 April. Packed inside Dragon's unpressurized "trunk" was the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), which was robotically installed onto the aft port of the station's Tranquility node a week later. Following several weeks of checks—and one partially successful attempt—BEAM was expanded to its full volume under Williams' oversight in late May, marking the first pressurized habitable spacecraft ever attached to a piloted orbital vehicle.
Jeff Williams became the first American to record as many as three long-duration space station increments. Photo Credit: NASA
By this stage, Expedition 47 was heading into its homestretch. A decision had been made in late April to extend Kopra, Malenchenko and Peake's stay by two weeks, in order to accommodate an intensive phase of on-board scientific research, and the trio finally boarded their Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft and returned safely to Earth on 18 June. Shortly before their departure, Kopra relinquished command of the space station to Williams, who would lead Expedition 48 through early September. Three weeks later, on 6/7 July, Soyuz MS-01 rocketed into orbit from Baikonur, carrying the second half of his crew: Russian cosmonaut Anatoli Ivanishin, NASA's Kate Rubins and Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
Newly expanded back up to six members, the station headed through July with the successful launch of SpaceX's CRS-9 Dragon, which arrived on the 20th, bearing a large payload of scientific supplies and the first International Docking Adapter (IDA-2). Pressed into service as the "first" such adapter, following last year's loss of IDA-1 in the CRS-7 accident, IDA-2 was installed onto Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA)-2 at the forward "end" of the Harmony node during U.S. EVA-36 on 19 August. In completing this EVA, Williams became the oldest American ever to participate in a spacewalk, aged 58 years and 214 days. Already, when he launched in March, he had become the oldest U.S. citizen to fly a long-duration space station increment.
More recently, on 1 September, Williams and Rubins undertook a second EVA to retract the Trailing Thermal Control Radiator (TTCR) on the station's P-6 truss and tend to a number of other activities, including the replacement of an external camera light, the installation of high-definition cameras and an inspection of the port-side Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ) on the Integrated Truss Structure (ITS).
Only days after the second EVA, preparations began for the return of Williams, Ovchinin and Skripochka back to Earth. On Monday, 5 September, Williams ceremonially handed over command of the ISS to Russia's Anatoli Ivanishin, who will lead Expedition 49 through late October. In doing so, Russia is level with the United States on the total number of ISS commands, with each nation having led 23 expeditions since November 2000. The other three long-duration increments have been led, in turn, by the European Space Agency (ESA) on Expedition 21, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) on Expedition 35 and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on Expedition 39.
Stunning view of Earth, as seen by Jeff Williams in his final hours on-orbit. Photo Credit: NASA/Jeff Williams/Twitter
"I will certainly miss this view," Williams tweeted to his almost-million-strong Twitter following early on Tuesday, 6 September, sharing a glorious view of the Home Planet. "Vast gratitude toward my crewmates, ground teams, supporting friends and family." Farewells between the outgoing crew members were wrapped up early Tuesday afternoon, with hatch closure between Soyuz TMA-20M and the station's Poisk module confirmed at 2:42 p.m. EDT. Ovchinin assumed the center commander's seat aboard the spacecraft, flanked by Skripochka in the left-hand "Flight Engineer-1" couch and Williams in the right-hand "Flight Engineer-2" couch. The three men spent the next several hours donning and leak-checking their Sokol ("Falcon") launch and entry suits and readying their spacecraft for undocking.
With near-perfect conditions at the landing site in Kazakhstan—characterized by a few clouds at 9,000 feet (2,740 meters), scattered clouds at 25,000 feet (7,620 meters), very light winds from the east and temperatures around 19 degrees Celsius (66 degrees Fahrenheit)—the undocking progressed like clockwork. At precisely 5:50 p.m. EDT, Ovchinin opened the hooks between Poisk and Soyuz TMA-20M, allowing springs to push them apart. Physical separation of the spacecraft occurred at 5:51:30 p.m. EDT, at which moment Expedition 48 officially ended and Expedition 49 began. At the point of separation, the Soyuz and the ISS were flying about 258 statute miles (415 km) above eastern Mongolia.
A few minutes after undocking, a smooth eight-second "burn" of the Soyuz thrusters was executed by Ovchinin, followed shortly thereafter by an equally smooth 30-second burn, to increase the relative separation distance between the two vehicles to around 25 miles (40 km). Around an hour before the scheduled landing, Russian MI-8 recovery and rescue helicopters were reportedly airborne from the remote town of Dzhezkazgan, 89 miles (143 km) north-west of the targeted landing site. By this stage, more than 2.5 hours had passed since Ovchinin, Skripochka and Williams departed the space station. At 8:21:25 p.m. EDT, Ovchinin executed the approximately four-minute "de-orbit burn", committing Soyuz TMA-20M to a fiery descent back through Earth's atmosphere.
"Just as soft as a cream-puff" was the summary offered by NASA's Rob Navias in the moments after the completion of the burn, which was right on the money and slowed the three returning spacefarers by about 420 feet (128 meters) per second. At 8:30 p.m. EDT, the crew were instructed to close their space suit visors, ahead of the jettison of Soyuz TMA-20M's spherical orbital module and cylindrical instrument module at 8:49 p.m. EDT. On the desolate steppe of south-central Kazakhstan, it was 6:49 a.m. on Wednesday, 7 September, and the MI-8 helicopters arrived at the landing zone and flew an oval-shaped "racetrack" pattern as they awaited Soyuz TMA-20M's arrival.
The Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft disappears into the distance, soon after separation from the International Space Station (ISS). Photo Credit: NASA TV
Encapsulated within the confines of the beehive-shaped descent module, Ovchinin, Skripochka and Williams achieved "Entry Interface" at about 8:51 p.m. EDT, at an altitude of some 328,412 feet or 62.2 miles (100.1 km). After passing through the worst of re-entry heating at about 8:57 p.m., Soyuz TMA-20M's twin pilot parachutes were deployed at 6.6 miles (10.7 km), followed by the 258-square-foot (24-square-meter) drogue and, finally, the 10,764-square-foot (1,000-square-meter) main canopy. Recovery forces confirmed the successful deployment of the parachutes and established voice communications with the crew, as Soyuz TMA-20M headed towards the Central Asian steppe.
Although the parachutes significantly slowed the spacecraft, it was the action of six solid-fueled rockets in the descent module's base which provided for a soft landing at 9:13:53 p.m. EDT Tuesday (7:13:53 a.m. local time Wednesday), just 23 minutes after local sunrise. Descending into haze, the blackened and scorched Soyuz TMA-20M momentarily disappeared from view, before landing safely on its side. As the helicopters touched down nearby, ground recovery vehicles quickly converged on the landing site.
From the instant of its Baikonur launch on 18/19 March to its haze-enshrouded touchdown on the south-central Kazakh steppe on 6/7 September, Soyuz TMA-20M and its three crew members had flown for 172 days, 3 hours and 48 minutes, completing the 48th expedition to the ISS. Having broken Scott Kelly's record for the longest cumulative period of time spent in space by a U.S. citizen on 24 August, Williams has now accrued 534 days, 2 hours and 50 minutes over his four missions. This also establishes him as the world's 14th most experienced space traveler; a position this high on the world experience table has not been held by a U.S. astronaut in over three decades.
For Ovchinin, who was first to depart the Soyuz, tonight's landing wrapped up his first space mission. Smiling and waving, he clutched a soft toy, courtesy of his daughter, and spoke to family and friends via satellite phone. Next out was Williams, who received warm greeting from his flight surgeon and from veteran shuttle flier Pat Forrester, currently the deputy chief of the Astronaut Office. Bringing up the rear was Skripochka, who has now amassed 331 days, 12 hours and 31 minutes as he concludes his second long-duration ISS expedition. He now stands as the world's 44th most experienced spacefarer, out of 216 individuals who have journeyed beyond Earth's sensible atmosphere in over five decades of human space exploration.
Interestingly, the 58-year-old Williams has seen all aspects of the construction of the ISS. His first mission, aboard shuttle Atlantis in May 2000, saw him perform an EVA when the infant space station comprised just two pressurized modules. Six years later, in 2006, he flew for six months on Expedition 13, as the program recovered from the Columbia disaster and construction resumed with a new set of power-producing solar arrays. Then, in the fall of 2009, he launched a third time, arriving aboard a station whose long-duration crew had doubled from three to six members. And in more recent years, as the ISS settled into the operational, "utilization" phase of its life, he secured the record for the most seasoned U.S. astronaut of all time.

Copyright © 2016 AmericaSpace - All Rights Reserved