A Soyuz spacecraft launches from Kazakhstan to reach the International Space Station
In short: In September 2015, a Soyuz spacecraft departed the Baikonur Cosmodrome to ferry a three-person crew to the International Space Station. This mission brought the orbital laboratory's population to nine people, marking the first time the station reached that capacity since 2013.
A Soyuz vessel departed from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome on 2 September 2015. The mission carried Sergey Volkov, the Russian Federal Space Agency commander, alongside visiting crew members Andreas Mogensen and Aidyn Aimbetov. After a two-day journey, the trio docked with the International Space Station on September 4, where they were met by NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren. The spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 12:37 a.m. EDT. This specific vessel was designated as the Soyuz TMA-18M.
The arrival of the Soyuz TMA-18M crew was a significant milestone for the station's occupancy. With the addition of Volkov, Mogensen, and Aimbetov, the orbiting laboratory reached a total of nine people on board. This was the first time the station had hosted nine crew members simultaneously since 2013. The crew included Andreas Mogensen from the European Space Agency and Aidyn Aimbetov from the Kazakh Space Agency. These individuals joined existing Expedition 44 members to reach the station's full capacity.
The mission's logistics required precise timing to ensure a smooth transition between expeditions. While Volkov was scheduled for a six-month stay on the station, the visiting crew members, Mogensen and Aimbetov, were slated to return to Earth after only eight days. This rotation is a standard part of the complex scheduling required to maintain continuous human presence in low Earth orbit. The crew's rotation was part of a larger mission cycle involving the Soyuz TMA-16M. This earlier spacecraft had carried Gennady Padalka, Scott Kelly, and Oleg Kornienko to orbit in March.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Soyuz crew launches to space station on This Week @NASA – September 4, 2015
- Also: Three Soyuz Crew Members Launch for Two Day Trip to Station - NASA
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