| Operator | Roscosmos |
|---|---|
| COSPAR ID | 2010-067A |
| SATCATno. | 37254 |
| Mission duration | 159 days, 7 hours, 17 minutes, |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | Soyuz-TMA 11F732 |
| Manufacturer | Energia |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 3 |
| Members | Dmitri Kondratyev Catherine Coleman Paolo Nespoli |
| Callsign | Варяг ("Varangian") |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | December 15, 2010, 19:09 (2010-12-15UTC19:09Z) UTC[1][2] |
| Rocket | Soyuz-FG |
| Launch site | Baikonur1/5 |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | May 24, 2011, 02:27 (2011-05-24UTC02:28Z) UTC[3][4] |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Docking withISS | |
| Docking port | Rassvet nadir |
| Docking date | 17 December 2010 20:12 UTC |
| Undocking date | 23 May 2011 21:35 UTC |
| Time docked | 157d 1h 23m |
 From left to right: Coleman, Kondratyev and Nespoli Soyuz programme (Crewed missions) | |
Soyuz TMA-20 was ahuman spaceflight to theInternational Space Station (ISS) and was part of theSoyuz programme. It lifted off from theBaikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on December 15, 2010, and docked with the ISS two days later. The three-person crew of Soyuz TMA-20 –Dmitri Kondratyev,Catherine Coleman andPaolo Nespoli – represented the ISS partner organizations ofRoscosmos,NASA and theEuropean Space Agency (ESA). Soyuz TMA-20's crew represented half of the members ofExpedition 27; the other three members of the expedition arrived at the station on boardSoyuz TMA-21 on April 6, 2011. TheCOSPAR ID of Soyuz TMA-20 was 2010-067A.[5] It is ISS flight 25S.
On May 24, 2011, after spending 159 days in space, the Soyuz TMA-20 descent module landed safely inZhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, carrying Kondratyev, Coleman and Nespoli.
The Soyuz TMA-20 crew was confirmed by NASA on November 21, 2008.[3]
| Position | Crew Member | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander |  Dmitri Kondratyev,RoscosmosExpedition 26 Only spaceflight | |
| Flight Engineer 1 |  Paolo A. Nespoli,ESAExpedition 26 Second spaceflight | |
| Flight Engineer 2 |  Catherine Coleman,NASAExpedition 26 Third and last spaceflight | |
| Position | Crew Member | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander | Anatoli Ivanishin,Roscosmos | |
| Flight Engineer 1 |  Satoshi Furukawa,JAXA | |
| Flight Engineer 2 | Michael Fossum,NASA | |
European astronaut Paolo Nespoli was believed to have been the tallest crew member to date ever to fly aboard a Soyuz spacecraft, with a height of 188 centimeters (6 ft 2in). According to the president ofEnergia, Vitaly Lopota, a custom-built seat and related hardware had to be manufactured to accommodate Nespoli's height.
The Soyuz spacecraft suffered damage to its container during transport to the Baikonur Cosmodrome on October 5, 2010, according to theInterfax news agency.[6] Engineers spotted the damage after the spacecraft was shipped by rail fromRussia toKazakhstan. After initial inspections of the damage, Russian sources said that it was not immediately clear whether the spacecraft would have to be returned to the RKK Energia factory in Moscow. Later, Russian officials replaced the damaged descent module with a new one, flown to Baikonur aboard a cargo plane.[7] The replacement module was originally part of theSoyuz TMA-21 spacecraft.
Despite the transportation damage, RKK Energia president Vitaly Lopota told news media that the mission would take place in December as planned.[8] Roscosmos spokesman Alexander Vorobyov also told Interfax that the December launch date would not be affected, because a reserve spacecraft would be available at Baikonur for the mission, if required.[8]
On December 12, 2010, the Soyuz TMA-20 payload section was integrated with the Soyuz FG rocket and the emergency escape system, allowing the state commission to declare that the Soyuz TMA-20 mission was fully assembled.[9] Rollout to the launch pad began in the morning of December 13, 2010.[10]
Soyuz TMA-20 blasted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome's Site 1 at 19:09 GMT (22:09:25 Moscow Time) on December 15, 2010, and successfully reached orbit ten minutes later.
The Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft docked with theRassvet module's docking port at 20:12 GMT on December 17, 2010. The docking occurred as the space station flew over western Africa at an altitude of 224 miles.[11]
In preparation for the day's docking procedure, the automated rendezvous sequence aboard Soyuz TMA-20 began at about 17:49 GMT. The spacecraft's engines were fired at 18:09 GMT, and another impulse firing occurred around 18:28 GMT. Within minutes, theKurs rendezvous equipment on both the Soyuz and the ISS was activated to support the linkup. The television camera on the nose of the Soyuz spacecraft was turned on at 19:29 GMT to provide views of the docking.
After checking that there were no leaks between the two spacecraft, the hatch between Soyuz TMA-20 and the space station was opened at 23:02 GMT.[12] A welcome ceremony to mark the arrival of the new crew was held shortly after the new crew came on board, when the live television downlink communications session started.
This was a textbook entry for Dmitry Kondratyev, Paolo Nespoli and Cady Coleman. "All of the functions of the Soyuz TMA-20 were by the book, no issues reported.[13] – NASA MCC Commentator Rob Navias
After spending 157 days docked to the ISS, the Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft, with Russian cosmonaut Dmitri Kondratyev at the controls, undocked from theRassvet module at 21:35 UTC on May 23, 2011. The ISS was flying above eastern China at the time separated.[13] Kondratyev occupied the center seat, with NASA astronaut Catherine Coleman to his right, and ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli to his left.
Kondratyev backed the spacecraft away from the ISS by about 600 feet and paused to give Nespoli a photo opportunity. Starting about 15 minutes after undocking, holding station at that vantage point directly behind the ISS, Nespoli took numerous photographs and several minutes of high-definition video of the station and the then-dockedSpace ShuttleEndeavour, which was conducting its final mission,STS-134.[14] The hatch between Soyuz TMA-20's descent and habitation modules, which was closed during undocking, was re-opened for the photo shoot, and Nespoli photographed the station-shuttle complex through a porthole in the habitation module. At 21:55 UTC, the ISS began to slowly rotate by 129 degrees to provide Nespoli with the best lighting conditions and a side-on view ofEndeavour.[15] Nespoli spent about 25 minutes completing the photo survey, then removed the digital photomemory cards from his cameras and made his way back into the Soyuz descent module. Once Nespoli was strapped into the seat to the left of Kondratyev's, the descent-habitation module hatch was sealed, and the Soyuz spacecraft performed a separation burn at 22:15 UTC to increase its distance from the ISS.[13]
Flying over the southern Atlantic Ocean, the Soyuz executed its deorbit burn at 01:36 UTC on May 24. The deorbit burn was a four-minute, 16-second firing. The descent, habitation and propulsion modules making up the spacecraft separated at 02:01 UTC. The descent module, with the crew inside, reached the first traces of the Earth's atmosphere at an altitude of about 62 miles at 02:03 UTC.[13]
The re-entry was conducted without any significant problems. In stark contrast to the frigid cold temperatures prevailed on the previousSoyuz TMA-01M landing day, the weather this time was sunny and warm. Soyuz TMA-20's large parachute and smallerdrogue chute inflated as planned, and the spacecraft descended towards its landing zone nearDzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan. The safe landing of the descent module was supervised by Russian Search and Recovery forces on board threeAntonov 12 andAntonov 26 planes, 14Mi-8 helicopters and seven search and recovery vehicles, deployed in the landing zone.[16] The final moments of the touchdown were recorded byNASA TV, with live landing footage and commentary.
The Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft landed safely upright at 02:27 UTC on May 24, 2011,[17] after a mission lasting 159 days, seven hours and 17 minutes. Russian recovery forces moved to assist the Soyuz crew, along with U.S. and Russian flight surgeons. Kondratyev and Coleman appeared to be in good shape, smiling and chatting with support personnel and sharing asatellite phone to call family members back home. However, at a press conference held after the landing, Vyacheslav Rogozhkin, the deputy head of Federal Medical and Biological Agency, said that Naspoli was suffering from a minor health issue with hisvestibular system.[18]
The crew was flown from the landing site toKaraganda to undergo medical checks.[19] In Karaganda, Coleman and Nespoli boarded a waiting NASAGulfstream jet for a flight back to NASA'sJohnson Space Center inHouston. Kontratyev was flown on a GCTCTupolev Tu-134 back toChkalovsky airfield of theGagarin Cosmonaut Training Center atZvezdny Gorodok.[20]
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