Soyuz MS-17
Favor launches atop a Soyuz-2.1a
NamesISS 63S
Mission typeCrewed mission to ISS
OperatorRoscosmos
COSPAR ID2020-072A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.46613
Mission duration184 days, 23 hours, 10 minutes
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftSoyuz MS No.747 Favor [1]
ManufacturerRSC Energia
Crew
Members
Start of mission
Launch date14 October 2020, 05:45:04 UTC[2][3][4][5]
RocketSoyuz-2.1a (s/n Х15000-045)
Launch siteBaikonur, Site 31
ContractorRSC Progress
End of mission
Landing date17 April 2021, 04:55 UTC[6]
Landing siteKazakh Steppe, Kazakhstan
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Inclination51.66°
Docking with ISS
Docking portRassvet nadir
Docking date14 October 2020, 08:48:47 UTC [7][8]
Undocking date19 March 2021, 16:38:27 UTC [9][10]
Time docked156 days, 7 hours and 49 minutes
Docking with ISS
(Relocation)
Docking portPoisk zenith
Docking date19 March 2021, 17:12:35 UTC [10]
Undocking date17 April 2021, 01:34 UTC [6]
Time docked28 days, 8 hours and 21 minutes

Rubins, Ryzhikov, and Kud-Sverchkov 

Soyuz MS-17 was a Soyuz spaceflight that was launched on 14 October 2020.[4][11] It transported three crew members of the Expedition 63/64 crew to the International Space Station. Soyuz MS-17 was the 145th crewed flight of a Soyuz spacecraft. The crew consisted of a Russian commander and a Russian and American flight engineer.[12][13][14]

The mission marked the first use of a new "ultrafast" two-orbit rendezvous flight plan with the Soyuz, which saw Soyuz MS-17 arrive at the ISS within approximately three hours after the launch.[3][15][16][8]

On 19 March 2021, the crew of Soyuz MS-17 boarded their spacecraft to relocate it from Rassvet to Poisk to make way for the arrival and docking of the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft,[9] which launched on 9 April 2021 carrying cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky, Pyotr Dubrov and NASA astronaut, Mark T. Vande Hei to the ISS ahead of a six-month stay. The two spacecraft had a nine-day handover period before Soyuz MS-17 departed. This is necessary to avoid de-crewing the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) of the ISS since no Russian cosmonaut was present aboard SpaceX Crew-1.[11]

Crew

Position Crew member
Commander Russia Sergey Ryzhikov, Roscosmos
Expedition 63/64
Second spaceflight
Flight Engineer 1 Russia Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, Roscosmos
Expedition 63/64
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer 2 United States Kathleen Rubins, NASA
Expedition 63/64
Second spaceflight

[17][18][19]

Backup crew

Position Crew member
Commander Russia Oleg Novitsky, Roscosmos
Flight Engineer 1 Russia Pyotr Dubrov, Roscosmos
Flight Engineer 2 United States Mark T. Vande Hei, NASA

Reserve crew

Position Crew member
Commander Russia Anton Shkaplerov, Roscosmos
Flight Engineer 1 Russia Andrei Babkin, Roscosmos

Crew notes

Early planning had listed Russian cosmonaut Nikolai Chub as the mission's Flight Engineer 2, pending a NASA decision on whether they would purchase more seats on the Soyuz. In May 2020, NASA purchased a Soyuz seat and assigned NASA astronaut Kathleen Rubins to the Flight Engineer 2 position, backed up by astronaut Mark T. Vande Hei.[17][20]

Originally Russian cosmonauts Anatoli Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner were set to fly as Commander and Flight Engineer 1 respectively. In February 2020, however, the two cosmonauts were moved to the Soyuz MS-16 flight due to medical issues with the commander of Soyuz MS-16, Nikolai Tikhonov. Ivanishin and Vagner were replaced by Ryzhikov and Kud-Sverchkov. Babkin remains an active cosmonaut, but has not yet been to space, while Tikhonov has retired from Roscosmos' astronaut corps.

Reacting to the COVID-19 pandemic, Roscosmos implemented a two-cosmonaut reserve crew to ensure the flight could go on with no delays, in the unlikely event both the prime and backup crews fall ill. It was not confirmed whether NASA planned to add an astronaut of their own to the reserve crew.[21]

Gallery

References

  1. ^ "Soyuz-MS 01 - 20 (11F732A48)". Gunter's Space Page. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  2. ^ Clark, Stephen (14 October 2020). "Live coverage: Soyuz crew begins flight to International Space Station". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  3. ^ a b Zak, Anatoly (13 October 2020). "Soyuz MS-17 to lift off with fresh ISS crew". RussianSpaceWeb.com. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  4. ^ a b "NASA Astronaut Kate Rubins, Crewmates to Discuss Upcoming Spaceflight" (Press release). NASA. 25 June 2020. Retrieved 4 September 2020. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ^ "Источник: НАСА хочет купить еще одно место в российском "Союзе"" [Source: NASA wants to buy another Soyuz seat] (in Russian). RIA Novosti. 22 October 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  6. ^ a b "NASA Astronaut Kate Rubins, Crewmates Return Safely to Earth". NASA (Press release). 16 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  7. ^ Becker, Joachim (14 October 2020). "Soyuz MS-17". SpaceFacts. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  8. ^ a b Harwood, William (14 October 2020). "Soyuz crew docks with International Space Station". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  9. ^ a b Pearlman, Robert Z. (19 March 2021). "Space station crew moves Soyuz spacecraft to new parking spot ahead of new arrivals". SPACE.com. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  10. ^ a b "Relocations of Manned Spacecrafts [sic]". 21 March 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  11. ^ a b Zak, Anatoly (1 January 2020). "Russian space program in 2020: Soyuz MS-17". RussianSpaceWeb.com. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  12. ^ Becker, Joachim (11 June 2020). "Expedition 64 Report". SpaceFacts. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  13. ^ Baylor, Michael (1 April 2020). "Status - Soyuz MS-17". Next Spaceflight. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  14. ^ Harwood, William (13 October 2020). "NASA uses final purchased Soyuz seat for Wednesday flight to station". Spaceflight Now.
  15. ^ Clark, Stephen (12 October 2020). "Russian rocket for next space station crew transferred to launch pad". Spaceflight Now.
  16. ^ "Грузовой корабль "Прогресс" полетит к МКС по сверхбыстрой схеме" [The Progress cargo vehicle will fly to the ISS according to a superfast scheme] (in Russian). РИА Новости. 20 March 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  17. ^ a b "Роскосмос подтвердил подписание контракта на доставку астронавта NASA на корабле "Союз"" [Roscosmos has confirmed the signing of a contract for the delivery of a NASA astronaut on the Soyuz spacecraft] (in Russian). ТАSS. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  18. ^ @anik1982space (9 May 2020). "Вот и новые составы российских экипажей «Союза МС-17» стали известны из пресс-релиза аэропорта Жуковский.
    Основной: Сергей Рыжиков, Сергей Кудь-Сверчков.
    Дублирующий: Олег Новицкий, Пётр Дубров.
    К сожалению, Николая Тихонова и Андрея Бабкина нет..."     [So the new compositions of the Russian crews of the Soyuz MS-17 became known from the press release of the Zhukovsky airport. Primary: Sergey Ryzhikov, Sergey Kud-Sverchkov. Dubbing: Oleg Novitsky, Pyotr Dubrov. Unfortunately, Nikolai Tikhonov and Andrey Babkin are gone.] (Tweet) (in Russian) – via Twitter.
  19. ^ "Flight crew assignments". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  20. ^ "NASA Assigns Astronaut Kate Rubins to Expedition 63/64 Space Station Crew". M20-060 (Press release). NASA. 3 June 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2020. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  21. ^ "Новости. Утвержден экипаж корабля "Союз МС-17"" [The crew of the Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft was approved]. roscosmos.ru (Press release) (in Russian). Roscosmos. Retrieved 11 June 2020.

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