science

Soyuz TMA-02M

Soyuz TMA-02M is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Soyuz TMA-02M rather than just read about it. In short: Soyuz TMA-02M was a space mission that transported three members of the Expedition 28 crew to the International Space Station. TMA-02M was the 110th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft (first launched 1967) and the second flight of the improved Soyuz-TMA-M series (first launched 7 October 2010).

Key takeaways

Soyuz TMA-02M belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Soyuz TMA-02M to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Soyuz TMA-02M from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Soyuz TMA-02M was a space mission that transported three members of the Expedition 28 crew to the International Space Station. TMA-02M was the 110th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft (first launched 1967) and the second flight of the improved Soyuz-TMA-M series (first launched 7 October 2010). The Soyuz remained docked to the space station for the Expedition 28 increment to serve as a potential emergency escape vehicle. The Soyuz spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, 7 June 2011 at 20:12 UTC (8 June 2011, 02:12 local time). Originally expected to dock with the International Space Station around 05:22 pm EDT on Thursday, 9 June 2011, the Soyuz docked with the ISS at 5:18 pm EDT, four minutes ahead of schedule. The spacecraft carried to the ISS a three-person crew (Sergey Volkov, Russia; Michael E. Fossum, U.S.; Satoshi Furukawa, Japan). The crew landed in Kazakhstan at 02:26 UTC on 22 November 2011.

Crew

Backup crew

Mission patch The former chief of Roscosmos, Anatoly Perminov, approved the Soyuz TMA-02M patch on 11 March 2011. A drawing of a rocket ship by an 8-year-old artist Katya Ikramova from Krasnoyarsk, Russia offered the inspiration for the Soyuz TMA-02M mission patch.

Pre-launch processing

On 21 April 2011, a train from RSC-Energia arrived at the Turatam railway station to deliver Soyuz TMA-02M. After a customs clearance, the spacecraft was transported to the integration and test facility at Baikonur for further pre-launch processing. The pre-launch processing continued at Baikonur following the delivery. The Soyuz spacecraft underwent testing in the acoustic chamber in early May. The purpose of the test was to verify the Kurs system responsible for rendezvous and docking. After the test, the Soyuz was prepared for leak checks in the vacuum chamber. Final testing including pneumatic tests of the Soyuz-FG rocket continued from 16 to 27 May. During a meeting held on 23 May to discuss the flight readiness, the Roscosmos Board approved Soyuz TMA-02M launch on 8 June 2011. On 27 May, the spacecraft was delivered to the filling station at Site 31 for further tanking of the Soyuz propulsion system by propellant components and pressurized gases. The tanking operations continued to the next day. Post tanking operations will continue between 29 May and 3 June. The integration with the launching FG rocket is planned for 4 June. The launch campaign at pad 1 will commence on 5 June and will continue until the launch date of 8 June.

Crew training

The Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center hosted two-day exam sessions for the Soyuz TMA-02M prime and backup crews on 12–13 May 2011. On 12 May, the prime crew passed their integrated training in the ISS simulator while their backups were examined in the Soyuz mockup. The ISS integrated test aims to simulate a working day at the Space Station with instructors introducing few contingencies. On the next day the crews swapped and took the exams. Soyuz TMA-02M crews arrived at Baikonur on 25 May 2011. After departing from the Chkalovsky airport in Moscow, the plane with the prime crew first landed in Krainy airport at 1 pm local time. Their backups landed 20 minutes later in the next plane. On 26 May 2011, the prime and backup crews began their first training session at Baikonur's Site 254. The prime crew verified cargo accommodation in the Soyuz descent capsule, donned their Sokol space suits; performed leak checks; and tested the helmet communication system. They also trained with the laser range meter, navigator and other systems. The backup crew of Kononenko, Pettit and Kuipers, with the exception of wearing Sokol suits also trained with the Soyuz systems.

Spacecraft Soyuz TMA-02M is the second mission using the upgraded Soyuz-TMA-M spacecraft, which has a modernised flight control system and reduced mass. TMA-02M is the second and last flight development test. The third flight (Soyuz TMA-03M) will be a qualification test and will conclude the flight testing programme. The spacecraft was designed and manufactured by Energia, the largest company of the Russian space industry.

Mission highlights Soyuz TMA-02М was successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Tuesday, 7 June 2011 at 21:12 UTC (8 June 2011, 2:12 am local Baikonur time). The spacecraft docked with the International Space Station 5:18 pm on Thursday, 9 June 2011, linking with the Rassvet module of the ISS. The Soyuz transported a three-person international crew to the International Space Station (Sergey Volkov, Russia – mission commander; Michael E. Fossum, U.S.; Satoshi Furukawa, Japan), who remained there until mid-November 2011. On board the ISS the Soyuz crew joined the Russian cosmonauts Andrei Borisenko and Aleksandr Samokutyayev and the NASA astronaut Ron Garan, their fellow crew members of Expedition 28.

Return to Earth

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Soyuz TMA-02M

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Soyuz TMA-02M claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Soyuz TMA-02M before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Soyuz TMA-02M ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Soyuz TMA-02M

In research: Soyuz TMA-02M appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Soyuz TMA-02M in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Soyuz TMA-02M is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Crewed Soyuz missions, Human spaceflights to the International Space Station, Spacecraft launched by Soyuz-FG rockets, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Soyuz TMA-02M outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Soyuz TMA-02M in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Soyuz TMA-02M means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Soyuz TMA-02M out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Soyuz TMA-02M in simple terms?

Why does Soyuz TMA-02M matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Soyuz TMA-02M?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Soyuz TMA-02M.