science

Soyuz TMA-20

Soyuz TMA-20 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-20 rather than just read about it. In short: Soyuz TMA-20 was a human spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS) and was part of the Soyuz programme. It lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on December 15, 2010, and docked with the ISS two days later.

Key takeaways

Soyuz TMA-20 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-20 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Soyuz TMA-20 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Soyuz TMA-20 was a human spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS) and was part of the Soyuz programme. It lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on December 15, 2010, and docked with the ISS two days later. On May 24, 2011, after spending 159 days in space, the Soyuz TMA-20 descent module landed safely in Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, carrying Kondratyev, Coleman and Nespoli. The three-person crew of Soyuz TMA-20 – Dmitri Kondratyev, Catherine Coleman and Paolo Nespoli – represented the ISS partner organizations of Roscosmos, NASA, and the European Space Agency (ESA). Soyuz TMA-20's crew represented half of the members of Expedition 27; the other three members of the expedition arrived at the station on board Soyuz TMA-21 on April 6, 2011. The COSPAR ID of Soyuz TMA-20 was 2010-067A. It was ISS flight 25S. The European segment of the mission was called "MagISStra".

Crew

The Soyuz TMA-20 crew was confirmed by NASA on November 21, 2008.

Backup crew

Tallest-ever crew member European astronaut Paolo Nespoli was believed to have been the tallest crew member to date ever to fly aboard a Soyuz spacecraft, with a height of 188 centimeters (6 ft 2in). According to the president of Energia, Vitaly Lopota, a custom-built seat and related hardware had to be manufactured to accommodate Nespoli's height.

Transportation damage The Soyuz spacecraft suffered damage to its container during transport to the Baikonur Cosmodrome on October 5, 2010, according to the Interfax news agency. Engineers spotted the damage after the spacecraft was shipped by rail from Russia to Kazakhstan. After initial inspections of the damage, Russian sources said that it was not immediately clear whether the spacecraft would have to be returned to the RKK Energia factory in Moscow. Later, Russian officials replaced the damaged descent module with a new one, flown to Baikonur aboard a cargo plane. The replacement module was originally part of the Soyuz TMA-21 spacecraft.

Despite the transportation damage, RKK Energia president Vitaly Lopota told news media that the mission would take place in December as planned. Roscosmos spokesman Alexander Vorobyov also told Interfax that the December launch date would not be affected, because a reserve spacecraft would be available at Baikonur for the mission, if required.

Launch and docking

Launch On December 12, 2010, the Soyuz TMA-20 payload section was integrated with the Soyuz FG rocket and the emergency escape system, allowing the state commission to declare that the Soyuz TMA-20 mission was fully assembled. Rollout to the launch pad began in the morning of December 13, 2010. Soyuz TMA-20 blasted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome's Site 1 at 19:09 GMT (22:09:25 Moscow Time) on December 15, 2010, and successfully reached orbit ten minutes later.

Docking The Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft docked with the Rassvet module's docking port at 20:12 GMT on December 17, 2010. The docking occurred as the space station flew over western Africa at an altitude of 224 miles. In preparation for the day's docking procedure, the automated rendezvous sequence aboard Soyuz TMA-20 began at about 17:49 GMT. The spacecraft's engines were fired at 18:09 GMT, and another impulse firing occurred around 18:28 GMT. Within minutes, the Kurs rendezvous equipment on both the Soyuz and the ISS was activated to support the linkup. The television camera on the nose of the Soyuz spacecraft was turned on at 19:29 GMT to provide views of the docking. After checking that there were no leaks between the two spacecraft, the hatch between Soyuz TMA-20 and the space station was opened at 23:02 GMT. A welcome ceremony to mark the arrival of the new crew was held shortly after the new crew came on board, when the live television downlink communications session started.

Undocking and landing

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Soyuz TMA-20

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Soyuz TMA-20 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-20 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-20 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-20

In research: Soyuz TMA-20 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-20 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-20 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-20 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-20 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Soyuz TMA-20 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-20 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Soyuz TMA-20 in simple terms?

Why does Soyuz TMA-20 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-20?

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-20.