Soyuz TM-31
Encyclopedia
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
(ISS). Launched near the end of 2000 the Soyuz-TM
Soyuz-TM
The Soyuz-TM crew transports were fourth generation Soyuz spacecraft used for ferry flights to the Mir and ISS space stations...
spacecraft brought to ISS Expedition 1
Expedition 1
Expedition 1, or Expedition One, was the first long-duration stay on the International Space Station . The three-person crew stayed aboard the station for 136 days, from November 2000 to March 2001. It was the beginning of an uninterrupted human presence on the station which still continues, as of...
, the first long-duration ISS crew. It was launched from Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
at 07:52 UT on October 31, 2000 by a Soyuz-U
Soyuz-U
The Soyuz-U launch vehicle is an improved version of the original Soyuz LV. Soyuz-U is part of the R-7 family of rockets based on the R-7 Semyorka missile. Members of this rocket family were designed by the TsSKB design bureau and constructed at the Progress Factory in Samara, Russia....
rocket.
The crew consisted of Russian cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko
Yuri Gidzenko
Yuri Pavlovich Gidzenko is a Russian cosmonaut. He was a test cosmonaut of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center . Gidzenko has flown twice into space and has lived on board the Mir and International Space Stations. He has also conducted two career spacewalks. Although he retired on July 15,...
and Sergei Krikalev
Sergei Krikalev
Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev is a Russian cosmonaut and mechanical engineer. As a prominent rocket scientist, he has been veteran of six space flights and currently has spent more time in space than any other human being.On August 16, 2005 at 1:44 a.m...
, and American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
William Shepherd
William Shepherd
William McMichael Shepherd is a former American astronaut who served as commander of Expedition 1, the first crew on the International Space Station. Shepherd is a recipient of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.-Biography:...
. Gidzenko was Commander of the flight up, but once aboard the station, Shepherd became Commander of the long-duration mission Expedition 1
Expedition 1
Expedition 1, or Expedition One, was the first long-duration stay on the International Space Station . The three-person crew stayed aboard the station for 136 days, from November 2000 to March 2001. It was the beginning of an uninterrupted human presence on the station which still continues, as of...
.
The spacecraft served as the crew's lifeboat while docked to the ISS. The Expedition 1 crew were returned to Earth via a Space Shuttle during STS-102
STS-102
STS-102 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station flown by Space Shuttle Discovery and launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida...
in March 2001, and the Soyuz TM-31 spacecraft stayed with the station for part of Expedition 2
Expedition 2
Expedition 2 was the second long-duration spaceflight aboard the International Space Station, immediately following Expedition 1. Its three person crew stayed aboard the station from March to August 2001...
. In April 2001 another spacecraft, Soyuz TM-32
Soyuz TM-32
Soyuz TM-32 was a manned Russian spacecraft which was launched on April 28, 2001, and docked with the International Space Station two days later. It launched the crew of the visiting mission ISS EP-1, which included the first paying space tourist Dennis Tito, as well as two Russian cosmonauts...
, arrived at the station, and took over responsibilities as the station's lifeboat. The crew launched by Soyuz TM-32, which included the first paying space tourist
Space tourism
Space Tourism is space travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. A number of startup companies have sprung up in recent years, hoping to create a space tourism industry...
Dennis Tito
Dennis Tito
Dennis Anthony Tito is an Italian American engineer and multimillionaire, most widely known as the first space tourist to fund his own trip into space. In mid-2001, he spent nearly eight days in orbit as a crew member of ISS EP-1, a visiting mission to the International Space Station...
, were returned to Earth in May aboard Soyuz TM-31. The visiting mission of which Tito was apart is sometimes referred to as ISS EP-1.
Crew
Docking with ISS
- Docked to ISS: November 2, 2000, 09:21 UTC (to aft port of Zvezda)
- Undocked from ISS: February 24, 2001, 10:06 UTC (from aft port of Zvezda)
- Docked to ISS: February 24, 2001, 10:37 UTC (to nadir port of ZaryaZaryaZarya , also known as the Functional Cargo Block or FGB , was the first module of the International Space Station to be launched. The FGB provided electrical power, storage, propulsion, and guidance to the ISS during the initial stage of assembly...
) - Undocked from ISS: April 18, 2001, 12:40 UTC (from nadir port of ZaryaZaryaZarya , also known as the Functional Cargo Block or FGB , was the first module of the International Space Station to be launched. The FGB provided electrical power, storage, propulsion, and guidance to the ISS during the initial stage of assembly...
) - Docked to ISS: April 18, 2001, 13:01 UTC (to aft port of Zvezda)
- Undocked from ISS: May 6, 2001, 02:21 UTC (from aft port of Zvezda)
Mission highlights
The Soyuz carried a crew of three to dock it with the Zvezda module of the International Space StationInternational Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
(ISS) at about 09:21 UT on November 2. The Progress M1-3 cargo craft that was docked with Zvezda was released to make way for the Soyuz. The crew of two Russian and one American spent over three months on the ISS, and returned to Earth in an American shuttle (STS-102
STS-102
STS-102 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station flown by Space Shuttle Discovery and launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida...
) in February 2001. In the initial days, the crew brought a variety of life support systems on-line, and created a lap-top computer network that helped run all systems in the ISS. The remaining months were allotted for exercise and space endurance practice. The crew was first group of a planned decade-long "permanent inhabitation" of the ISS.