Soyuz TMA-20

Crew

Paolo Nespoli

Flight Engineer

Status: Retired
4/6/1957 -
Nationality: Italian
Type: Government
Agency: European Space Agency

Paolo Angelo Nespoli (Milan, 6 April 1957) is an Italian astronaut and engineer of the European Space Agency (ESA). In 2007, he first traveled into space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery as a mission specialist of STS-120. In December 2010 he again traveled into space aboard the Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft as an Expedition 26/27 flight engineer. Nespoli's third spaceflight was onboard Soyuz MS-05 which launched in July 2017 for Expedition 52/53. He is also the European Space Agency's oldest active astronaut.

Dmitri Kondratyev

Commander

Status: Retired
5/25/1969 -
Nationality: Russian
Type: Government
Agency: Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS)

Dmitri Yur'yevich Kondrat'yev Russian: Дмитрий Юрьевич Кондратьев (born 25 May 1969 in Irkutsk, Russia) is a retired Russian cosmonaut. He served as a crewmember on the International Space Station long duration mission Expedition 27 as Commander, having also served as a Flight Engineer on Expedition 26 during the same stay in space. Kondratyev traveled to space for the first time aboard the Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft in December 2010.

Catherine Coleman

Flight Engineer

Status: Retired
12/14/1960 -
Nationality: American
Type: Government
Agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Catherine Grace "Cady" Coleman is an American chemist, a former United States Air Force officer, and a former NASA astronaut. She is a veteran of two Space Shuttle missions, and departed the International Space Station on May 23, 2011, as a crew member of Expedition 27 after logging 159 days in space.

Mission

Soyuz TMA-20

Type: Human Exploration

Soyuz TMA-20 begins Expedition 26 by carrying 3 astronauts and cosmonauts to the International Space Station. Russian Commander, cosmonaut Dmitri Kondratyev alongside Flight Engineers, Catherine Coleman (NASA) & Paolo Nespoli (ESA) will launch aboard the Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and then rendezvous with the station. It landed on May 24, 2011, 02:27 UTC

Location

1/5

Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan

465 launches have been at this location.

Rocket

Soyuz

Length: 49.5 meters
Diameter: 3 meters
First Launched: May 20, 2001

The Soyuz FG rocket is an expendable launch vehicle most commonly known for carrying humans to the International Space Station today.

The Soyuz rocket has been launched a total of 60 times with 59 successful and 1 failed launches.

Agency

Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS)

Type: Government
Abbreviation: RFSA
Administration: Administrator: Dmitry Rogozin
Founded: 1992
Launchers: Soyuz
Spacecraft: Soyuz
Country: RUS

The Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities, commonly known as Roscosmos, is the governmental body responsible for the space science program of the Russian Federation and general aerospace research. Soyuz has many launch locations the Russian sites are Baikonur, Plesetsk and Vostochny however Ariane also purchases the vehicle and launches it from French Guiana.