הטיל הרוסי סויוז שוגר לחלל לתחנה הבן לאומית בחלל Soyuz TMA-44a

The Soyuz TMA-44a launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station at 12:13 a.m. PDT Thursday, April 20. At the time of launch, the space station was flying about 250 miles over northeast Kazakhstan near the southern Russian border. NASA astronaut Jack Fischer and Fyodor Yurchikin of Roscosmos are now safely in orbit. The pair will travel on a fast-track, six-hour course to the space station and dock to the Poisk module at 6:23 a.m. Once at the station, they will be welcomed by Expedition 51 Commander Peggy Whitson of NASA and Flight Engineers Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency). Hatches between the Soyuz and space station will open at approximately 8:05 a.m.
הטיל הרוסי סויוז שוגר לחלל לתחנה הבן לאומית בחלל Soyuz TMA-44a

The transport manned spacecraft Soyuz TMA-44a is being tested for air tightness in a vacuum chamber at the Baikonur cosmodrome. The launch of the Soyuz TMA-44a TPK with the crew of another long expedition (commander-cosmonaut of Roskosmos Fyodor Yurchikhin, flight engineer - NASA astronaut Jack Fisher) is scheduled for April 20, 2017 for the International Space Station. In the first manned launch of 2017, the Soyuz TMA-44a spacecraft was slated to carry three members of Expedition 51 to the International Space Station, ISS. Roskosmos made a decision to reduce the Russian crew aboard the ISS beginning in 2017 to save funds. After a technical delay, a liftoff of Soyuz TMA-44a was re-scheduled for April 20, 2017. The spacecraft is expected to remain docked at ISS until Sept. 3, 2017. On Jan. 16, 2017, Roskosmos announced that the vehicle with a production number 735 would be used for the Soyuz TMA-44a mission, instead of previous plans to fly Vehicle No. 734. Roskosmos said that the swap had not been due to 'technical reasons', but in reality, it was caused by a leakage discovered in the thermal control system, SOTR, of Vehicle No. 734. As a result, the launch of the Soyuz TMA-44a mission had to be postponed from March 27 until April 20, 2017, at the earliest, depending on the readiness of Vehicle No. 735. The subsequent mission of the Soyuz TMA-45a spacecraft also had to be delayed from May 29 until around July 28, 2017.

The technical management and State Commission representatives at Baikonur cosmodrome issued a decision about the readiness of the rocket and space complex (RSC) consisting of transport manned vehicle (TMV) of a new modification Soyuz TMA-44a and launch vehicle (LV) Soyuz FG for roll-out and installation on the launch pad. The final assembly of the rocket space complex was successfully completed. During the day the nose assembly with the vehicle was mated to the third stage of the launch vehicle in the launch vehicle integration and test facility (LV ITF). Medium capacity launch vehicle Soyuz-FG with new-series manned vehicle Soyuz TMA-44a was carried out from the integration and test facility and erected at the launch pad of Launch Site No.1 'Gagarin’s launch pad' of Baikonur cosmodrome. Specialists from RSC Energia and other ROSCOSMOS enterprises involved in the prelaunch processing are performing final processing operations at the launch site. Prelaunch tests of the rocket and space complex systems and assemblies are being conducted, the onboard systems and ground equipment interfaces are being checked. Soyuz TMA-44a carrying the crew of the next long-duration tour to the International Space Station (ISS) is scheduled on April 20, 2017 from Baikonur cosmodrome. The ISS-51 Expedition consists of ROSCOSMOS cosmonaut Fedor YURCHIKHIN and NASA astronaut Jack FISHER.

At Baikonur Cosmodrome RSC Energia (being part of SC ROSCOSMOS) specialists conducted the designer’s inspection of the new-modification manned transport vehicle Soyuz TMA-44a and performed a set of technological operations on encapsulation of launch vehicle Soyuz-FG. The vehicle prelaunch processing under the International Space Station (ISS) Program is under way at the spacecraft assembly & testing facilities (SC ATF) at Baikonur Cosmodrome. Per the preparatory work schedule the transportation of the payload module with Soyuz TMA-44a from SC ATF to the launch vehicle integration and test facility (LV ITF) for final assembly with launch vehicle Soyuz-FG is planned for the nearest week. The launch of Soyuz TMA-44a carrying the crew of the next long-duration tour to the International Space Station (ISS) is scheduled on April 20, 2017 from Baikonur cosmodrome. ROSKOSMOS cosmonaut Fedor YURCHIKHIN and NASA astronaut Jack FISHER are crewmembers of the ISS-51 Expedition.

ISS Expedition 44 Soyuz TMA-17M Pre launch Activities At Baikonur

Preparations are under way at Baikonur cosmodrome for the launch of a manned transportation spacecraft in the new Soyuz MS series. The vacuum chamber tests are complete and the manned spacecraft was transferred to the processing facility of Area 254 for further stand-alone tests. The launch of manned transportation spacecraft from Baikonur is scheduled for April 20, 2017.

RSC Energia specialists successfully performed processing operations at Baikonur cosmodrome relating to the new-modification manned transport vehicle Soyuz TMA-44a mating to the transfer compartment. The vehicle prelaunch processing under the International Space Station (ISS) program is under way in the spacecraft Assembly and Testing facility (SC ATF) at Baikonur cosmodrome. Per the preparatory work schedule for the nearest week the following activities are planned, i.e. designer’s inspection of the vehicle, encapsulation and transportation of the payload module with Soyuz TMA-44a from SC ATF to the launch vehicle integration and test facility (LV ITF) for final assembly with launch vehicle Soyuz-FG. The launch of Soyuz TMA-44a carrying the crew of the next long-duration tour to the International Space Station (ISS) is scheduled on April 20, 2017 from Baikonur cosmodrome. ROSKOSMOS cosmonaut Fedor YURCHIKHIN and NASA astronaut Jack FISHER are crewmembers of the ISS-51 Expedition.

Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, Japanese Astronaut Kimiya Yui and American NASA astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren left their hotel quarters today in Baikonur Kazachstan and suited up in their launch and entry spacesuits before heading out to the launch pad and boarding the Soyuz-FG rocket atop which sits their Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft to take them into space