Gidzenko

Shuttleworth

Vittori

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Shuttleworth Credit - www.spacefacts.de

25 April 2002 06:26 GMT. Landing Date: 2002-05-05 03:52:00 PM. Flight Time: 9.89 days. Alternate Name: Soyuz TM-34. Other Name: ISS-4S. Flight Up: Soyuz TM-34. Flight Back: Soyuz TM-33. Crew: Gidzenko, Shuttleworth, Vittori. Program: ISS.

Of note: First South African astronaut. Launch delayed from April 10, 22 and 17. Soyuz TM-34 was launched on ISS Mission 4S with Commander Yuri Gidzenko of Rosaviakosmos, Flight Engineer is Roberto Vittori of ESA, and Tourist Mark Shuttleworth, a South African citizen. At 1210 UTC Soyuz TM-34 was in a 242 x 269 km x 51.6 deg orbit. The flight was also referred to as ISS Mission 4S, the EP-3 visiting crew flight, and even as 'Soyuz 4' by NASA. Soyuz TM-34 docked with the nadir port on the Zarya module at 0755 UTC on April 27. The 4S flight docked at the Zarya nadir port on April 27. and the crew would return to Earth in the old TM-33 vehicle, leaving TM-34 as the active ISS rescue vehicle. On November 9 the Soyuz TMA-1/EP-4 crew boarded Soyuz TM-34 and undocked from the Zarya nadir port at 2044 UTC, leaving Soyuz TMA-1 for the resident crew. Soyuz TM-34 landed in Kazakstan at 0004 UTC on November 10.

• 2002 Apr 25 - ISS Status Report: ISS 02-20 

  A Soyuz rocket blasted off today from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying a multinational "taxi" crew to the International Space Station to deliver a fresh return vehicle to the orbital outpost.

  Russian Commander Yuri Gidzenko, Flight Engineer Roberto Vittori of the European Space Agency and South African businessman Mark Shuttleworth rocketed away from the Central Asian launch site at 1:26:38 a.m. Central time (626:38 GMT) in their Soyuz TM-34 craft. Less than nine minutes later, with the Soyuz solar arrays and navigational antennas successfully deployed, they had reached orbit to begin a two-day chase to reach the ISS early Saturday. At the time of launch, the ISS was flying over Iraq at an altitude of 244 statute miles. The Expedition Four crew on board the station had just awakened at the time the Soyuz began its journey.

  Shuttleworth Credit- www.spacefacts.de

  Gidzenko, who is making his third flight into space, is the first former resident of the ISS to return to the complex, having been a member of the Expedition One crew, the first crew to live aboard the station. Gidzenko first arrived at the ISS in November 2000. Vittori, who is a professional astronaut, is making his first spaceflight, traveling to the ISS under a contract between the Italian Space Agency and the Russian Aviation and Space Agency. Shuttleworth is a South African Internet entrepreneur flying under contract with the Russian Aviation and Space Agency as well on his first mission.

  The three crewmembers will dock to the Zarya module of the ISS on Saturday at 2:57 a.m. Central time (757 GMT). That docking port was freed up last Saturday when Expedition Four Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineers Carl Walz and Dan Bursch relocated the Soyuz vehicle currently at the ISS from Zarya to the Pirs Docking Compartment.

  Gidzenko, Vittori and Shuttleworth will spend almost eight days on the station, conducting experiments and educational activities. They will depart the ISS on the evening of May 4, U.S. time, in the Soyuz currently docked to the station, and will land a few hours later on the Kazakh steppes.

  All systems aboard the ISS continue to function well as the station orbits at an average altitude of about 245 statute miles.

• 2002 Apr 25 - Soyuz TM-34  Crew: Gidzenko, Vittori, Shuttleworth. Spacecraft: Soyuz TM. Payload: Soyuz TM 11F732 s/n 208. Mass: 6,750 kg (14,880 lb). Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz. Duration: 198.73 days. Perigee: 387 km (240 mi). Apogee: 397 km (246 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 92.40 min.

  Launch delayed from April 10, 22 and 17. Soyuz TM-34 was launched on ISS Mission 4S with Commander Yuri Gidzenko of Rosaviakosmos, Flight Engineer is Roberto Vittori of ESA, and Tourist Mark Shuttleworth, a South African citizen. At 1210 UTC Soyuz TM-34 was in a 242 x 269 km x 51.6 deg orbit. The flight was also referred to as ISS Mission 4S, the EP-3 visiting crew flight, and even as 'Soyuz 4' by NASA. Soyuz TM-34 docked with the nadir port on the Zarya module at 0755 UTC on April 27. The 4S flight docked at the Zarya nadir port on April 27. and the crew would return to Earth in the old TM-33 vehicle, leaving TM-34 as the active ISS rescue vehicle.

• 2002 Apr 27 - ISS Status Report: ISS 02-21 

  ISS EP-3 Credit- www.spacefacts.de

  A multinational "taxi" crew arrived at the International Space Station today, delivering a new Soyuz return vehicle at the start of eight days of joint activities with the residents on board the complex.

  Two days after their launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Russian Commander Yuri Gidzenko, Flight Engineer Roberto Vittori of the European Space Agency and South African businessman Mark Shuttleworth docked their Soyuz TM-34 craft to the nadir docking port of the Zarya module of the ISS at 2:56 a.m. Central time (756 GMT) as the two vehicles flew over Central Asia.

  On board the ISS, Expedition Four Flight Engineer Dan Bursch, a Navy Captain, maintained a tradition by ringing the ship's bell in the Unity module to mark the arrival of new visitors. ISS Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineer Carl Walz monitored the docking along side Bursch.

  Parked nearby at the Pirs Docking Compartment was the Soyuz TM-33 craft, which was brought to the ISS by another crew last fall. Gidzenko, Vittori and Shuttleworth will ride home to a landing on the Kazakh steppes in that older Soyuz capsule on May 4, U.S. time (early May 5, Kazakhstan time).

  Gidzenko, who is making his third flight into space, is the first former resident of the ISS to return to the complex, having been a member of the Expedition One crew, the first crew to live aboard the station. Gidzenko first arrived at the ISS in November 2000. Vittori, who is a professional astronaut, is making his first spaceflight, traveling to the ISS under a contract between the Italian Space Agency and the Russian Aviation and Space Agency. Shuttleworth is a South African Internet entrepreneur flying under contract with the Russian Aviation and Space Agency as well on his first mission.

  Gidzenko, Vittori and Shuttleworth will spend their visit on the station conducting experiments and educational activities

  About an hour and a half after docking, and after leak checks were performed to insure a tight seal between the Soyuz and the ISS, hatches swung open at 4:25 a.m. Central time (925 GMT) and the six crewmembers greeted one another. Congratulations were offered to the two crews from Russian, Italian, European Space Agency and South African officials who watched the linkup from the Russian Mission Control Center outside Moscow.

  All systems aboard the ISS continue to function well as the station orbits at an average altitude of about 245 statute miles.

• 2002 May 4 - ISS Status Report: ISS 02-22 

  A multinational "taxi" crew departed the International Space Station this evening, having delivered a new Soyuz return vehicle to the residents of the orbital outpost.

  Russian Commander Yuri Gidzenko, Flight Engineer Roberto Vittori of the European Space Agency and South African businessman Mark Shuttleworth undocked their Soyuz TM-33 craft from the Pirs Docking Compartment of the ISS at 7:31 p.m. Central time (00:31 GMT May 5) over China after eight days of joint activities with Expedition Four Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineers Carl Walz and Dan Bursch.

  Left behind on the nadir docking port of the Zarya module of the ISS is a new Soyuz TM-34 return craft, in which Gidzenko, Vittori and Shuttleworth were launched on April 25 and which they guided to a docking to the ISS last Saturday. The older Soyuz arrived at the station last October. Fresh Soyuz spacecraft are brought to the station every six months to serve as an emergency return vehicle in the event a problem forces station residents to leave the complex prematurely.

  After backing the older Soyuz away from the Pirs docking port, Gidzenko fired the Soyuz' thrusters to begin a separation maneuver away from the station. Later this evening, Gidzenko will conduct a four-minute deorbit burn of the Soyuz engines to begin the capsule's descent back to Earth.

  Gidzenko, Vittori and Shuttleworth are scheduled to land on the steppes of Kazakhstan at 10:52 p.m. Central time (352 GMT May 5) to wrap up their mission.

  Gidzenko, who is completing his third flight into space, was the first former resident of the ISS to return to the complex, having been a member of the Expedition One crew, the first crew to live aboard the station.

  Gidzenko, Vittori and Shuttleworth spent most of their time on the station conducting experiments and educational activities.

  All systems aboard the ISS continue to function well as the station orbits at an average altitude of about 245 statute miles.

• 2002 May 5 - Landing of Soyuz TM-33 

  On May 5, 2002, after a week aboard the station, the visting Soyuz TM-34 crew of Gidzenko, Vittori and Shuttleworth moved to the old Soyuz TM-33, docked at the Pirs port. They undocked at 0031:08 UTC on May 5, leaving the EO-4 crew of Onufrienko, Walz and Bursch with the new Soyuz TM-34 as their rescue vehicle. Soyuz TM-33 made its deorbit burn at 0257 UTC and landed successfully at 0352 UTC 25 km SE of Arkalyk.