Soyuz TMA-8

Crew

Jeffrey Williams

Flight Engineer

Status: Active
1/18/1958 -
Nationality: American
Type: Government
First Flight: 5/19/2000
Last Flight: 3/18/2016

Jeffrey Nels Williams is a retired United States Army officer and a NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of four space flights and formerly held the American record for most days spent in space, which was surpassed in April 2017 by his colleague Peggy Whitson.

Pavel Vinogradov

Commander

Status: Active
8/31/1953 -
Nationality: Russian
Type: Government
First Flight: 8/5/1997
Last Flight: 3/28/2013

Pavel Vladimirovich Vinogradov (Russian: Павел Владимирович Виноградов; born August 31, 1953 in Magadan, USSR) is a cosmonaut and former commander of the International Space Station. As of May 2013, he has flown into space three times, aboard Mir and the International Space Station, and is one of the top 10 astronauts in terms of total time in space. Vinogradov has also conducted seven spacewalks in his cosmonaut career, and holds the record for the oldest person to perform a spacewalk.

Marcos Pontes

Spaceflight Participant

Status: Active
3/11/1963 -
Nationality: Brazilian
Type: Government
First Flight: 3/30/2006
Last Flight: 3/30/2006

Marcos Cesar Pontes (born March 11, 1963) is a Brazilian Air Force pilot, engineer, AEB astronaut and author. He became the first South American and the first Lusophone to go into space when he launched into the International Space Station aboard Soyuz TMA-8 on March 30, 2006. He is the only Brazilian to have completed the NASA astronaut training program, although he switched to training in Russia after NASA's Space Shuttle program encountered problems.

Mission

Soyuz TMA-8

Type: Human Exploration

Soyuz TMA-8 begins Expedition 13 by carrying 3 astronauts and cosmonauts to the International Space Station. Russian Commander, cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov alongside Flight Engineers, Jeffrey Williams (NASA) & spaceflight participant Marcos Pontes (Space Adventures) will launch aboard the Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and then rendezvous with the station. It landed on September 29, 2006, 01:13 UTC

Location

1/5

Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan

468 rockets have launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan.

Rocket

Soyuz

Length: 49.5 meters
Diameter: 3 meters
First Launch: 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.