Soyuz TMA-12

Soyuz TMA-12

Operator	Roscosmos
COSPAR ID	2008-015A
SATCAT no.	32756
Mission duration	198d 16h 21m
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	Soyuz-TMA
Manufacturer	Energia
Crew
Crew size	3
Members	Sergey Volkov Oleg Kononenko
Launching	Yi So-Yeon
Landing	Richard Garriott
Callsign	Eridan
Start of mission
Launch date	April 8, 2008, 11:16:39 (2008-04-08UTC11:16:39Z) UTC
Rocket	Soyuz-FG
Launch site	Baikonur 1/5
End of mission
Landing date	October 24, 2008, 03:37 (2008-10-24UTC03:38Z) UTC [1]
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Docking with ISS
Docking port	Pirs nadir
Docking date	10 April 2008 12:57 UTC
Undocking date	24 October 2008 00:16 UTC
Time docked	196d 11h 19m
From left to right: Yi So-yeon, Sergey Volkov, Oleg Kononenko Soyuz programme (Crewed missions) ←  Soyuz TMA-11 Soyuz TMA-13  →

Soyuz TMA-12 was a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station (ISS) which was launched by a Soyuz FG rocket at 11:16 UTC on 8 April 2008. It docked to the Pirs module of the station on 10 April 2008. ^[2] Landing occurred at 03:37 on 24 October. It was the first nominal landing in three missions, following separation failures on the Soyuz TMA-10 and 11 spacecraft.

Crew

Position	Launching crew	Landing crew
Commander	Sergey Volkov, Roscosmos Expedition 17 First spaceflight
Flight Engineer	/ Oleg Kononenko, Roscosmos Expedition 17 First spaceflight
Spaceflight Participant	Yi So-Yeon, KAP [3] Only spaceflight	/ Richard Garriott, SA [4] Only spaceflight

Backup crew

Position	Launching crew	Landing crew
Commander	Maksim Surayev, Roscosmos
Flight Engineer	Oleg Skripochka, Roscosmos
Spaceflight Participant	Ko San, KAP	Nik Halik, SA [5]

Crew Notes

Yi So-yeon flew as a guest of the Russian government through the Korean Astronaut Program after the Korean government paid the Russian government 25 million US dollars in agreement to support the first Korean astronaut in space. Her role aboard the Soyuz is referred to as a Spaceflight Participant in English-language Russian Federal Space Agency and NASA documents and press briefings. ^[6] Ko San was originally scheduled to fly, with Yi as his backup. On 10 March 2008, it was announced that Ko breached regulations surrounding removal of books from the training centre in Russia, ^[7] and therefore would not be allowed to fly. ^[3]

Soyuz TMA-12 approaches the International Space Station for docking on 10 April 2008.

Richard Garriott flew as a private astronaut through a program run by Space Adventures. He is also referred to as a Spaceflight Participant in English-language Roscosmos and NASA documents.

Soyuz TMA-12 saw the joined landing of the world's first two second-generation space travellers, Sergey Volkov and Richard Garriott. Volkov's father, Aleksandr Volkov, flew to space three times and visited the Salyut 7 and Mir space stations. Garriott's father, Owen Garriott, flew to space twice and visited the Skylab space station.

References

1. NASA (2008). "Expedition 17". NASA. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
2. "Expedition 17 Crew Launches from Baikonur". Archived from the original on 2008-04-13. Retrieved 2008-04-09.
3. "CNN - S. Korea names woman as first astronaut". Archived from the original on 2008-03-15. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
4. Space Adventures Announces 1st Second Generation Astronaut Space Adventures
5. "Space Adventures Announces the Identity of Back-up Crew Member". PRNewswire.com. 28 January 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
6. NASA – Expedition 17
7. BBC News - South Korea swaps first astronaut