Soyuz TMA-8

Operator	Roscosmos
COSPAR ID	2006-009A
SATCATno.	28996
Mission duration	182 days
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	Soyuz-TMA 11F732
Manufacturer	Energia
Launch mass	7,270 kilograms (16,030 lb)
Crew
Crew size	3
Members	Pavel Vinogradov Jeffrey Williams
Launching	Marcos Pontes
Landing	Anousheh Ansari
Callsign	Carat
Start of mission
Launch date	March 30, 2006, 02:30 (2006-03-30UTC02:30Z) UTC
Rocket	Soyuz-FG
Launch site	Baikonur1/5
End of mission
Landing date	September 29, 2006, 01:13 (2006-09-29UTC01:14Z) UTC
Landing site	Kazakhstan
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee altitude	200 kilometres (120 mi)
Apogee altitude	241 kilometres (150 mi)
Inclination	51.67 degrees
Period	88.64 minutes
Docking withISS
Docking port	Zarya nadir
Docking date	1 April 2006 04:19 UTC
Undocking date	28 September 2006 21:53 UTC
Time docked	180d 17h 34m
From top to bottom:Jeffrey Williams,Marcos Pontes andPavel Vinogradov. Soyuz programme (Crewed missions) ← Soyuz TMA-7 Soyuz TMA-9 →

Soyuz TMA-8 was aSoyuz mission to theInternational Space Station (ISS) launched by aSoyuz FG launch vehicle.

Soyuz TMA-8 was a transport mission for portions of theInternational Space Station (ISS)Expedition 13 crew. The flight delivered ISS CommanderPavel Vinogradov and ISS Flight EngineerJeffrey Williams to the station to replaceExpedition 12 crew members. Flight EngineerMarcos Pontes joined the TMA-8 crew for the ascent and docking with ISS, spent approximately seven days aboard the ISS conducting experiments as part of theMissão Centenário, then returned to Earth with the outgoing members ofExpedition 12 aboardSoyuz TMA-7. Vinogradov and Williams were joined on their return trip to Earth by Spaceflight ParticipantAnousheh Ansari who launched aboardSoyuz TMA-9 and spent approximately eight days aboard ISS conducting experiments for theEuropean Space Agency.

Position	Launching crew	Landing crew
Commander	Pavel Vinogradov,Roscosmos[1] Expedition 13 Second spaceflight
Flight Engineer	Jeffrey Williams,NASA[1] Expedition 13 Second spaceflight
Spaceflight Participant	Marcos Pontes,AEB[1] Only spaceflight	/Anousheh Ansari,SA Only spaceflight Tourist

Position	Crew
Commander	Fyodor Yurchikhin, Roscosmos[2]
Flight Engineer	Michael Fincke, NASA[2]
Flight Engineer	Sergei Volkov, Roscosmos[2]

• Docked to ISS: April 1, 2006, 04:19 UTC (to nadir port ofZarya)^[3]
• Undocked from ISS: September 28, 2006, 21:53 UTC (from nadir port ofZarya)

29th crewed flight to ISS (Flight 12S)

Soyuz TMA-8 is aSoyuz spacecraft which was launched on March 30, 2006 by aSoyuz-FG rocket from theBaikonur Cosmodrome. Near the end of second stage burn, a communications blackout occurred at Moscow Mission Control. A satellite link was lost, but was restored about 10 minutes later. The crew was safe throughout the loss of communications.

The spacecraft carried two members of theExpedition 13 crew to theInternational Space Station, together withMarcos Pontes, thefirst Brazilian in space. The Brazilian government paid Russia approximately $20 million (USD) for Pontes' flight.^[4] They replaced theExpedition 12 crew, CommanderWilliam McArthur andValery Ivanovich Tokarev. Together with the Expedition 12 crew,Marcos Pontes returned to Earth on boardSoyuz TMA-7.

Soyuz TMA-8 returned to Earth, together withExpedition 13, the spaceflight participant launched withSoyuz TMA-9, Anousheh Ansari.^[5]

• List of spaceflights (2006)

• Expedition 13/Soyuz TMA-8
• [1]

• Crewed Soyuz missions
• Spacecraft launched in 2006
• Orbital space tourism flights
• Spacecraft which reentered in 2006
• Spacecraft launched by Soyuz-FG rockets

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata