astronomy

Soyuz TMA-9

Soyuz TMA-9 is a astronomy 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-9 rather than just read about it. In short: Soyuz TMA-9 was a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station (ISS) launched by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle. It was a human spaceflight mission transporting personnel to and from the ISS.

Key takeaways

Soyuz TMA-9 belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Soyuz TMA-9 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Soyuz TMA-9 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Soyuz TMA-9 was a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station (ISS) launched by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle. It was a human spaceflight mission transporting personnel to and from the ISS. It launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 18 September 2006 at 08:09 MSD (04:09 UTC), docked with the ISS at 09:21 MSD (05:21 UTC) on 20 September, and returned to Earth on 21 April 2007. Soyuz TMA-9 transported two-thirds of ISS Expedition 14 to the space station along with one "spaceflight participant" who performed several experiments on behalf of the European Space Agency.

Crew

Crew notes Daisuke Enomoto was originally scheduled to be the spaceflight participant, but on 21 August 2006, he was determined to be unfit for the flight for medical reasons, and replaced by Anousheh Ansari, his back-up crew member.

Docking with ISS

Docked to ISS: 20 September 2006, 05:21 UTC (to aft port of Zvezda) Undocking from ISS: 10 October 2006 19:14 UTC (from aft port of Zvezda) Docking to ISS: 10 October 2006 19:34 UTC (to nadir port of Zarya) Undocking from ISS: 29 March 2007 23:30 UTC (from nadir port of Zarya) Docking to ISS: 29 March 2007 23:54 UTC (to aft port of Zvezda) Undocking from ISS: 21 April 2007 09:11 UTC (from aft port of Zvezda)

Mission highlights Soyuz TMA-9, known within the International Space Station program as ISS Soyuz 13, was the 32nd crewed flight to the ISS. It is of note because for three days, from 18–21 September 2006, it marked the first time since before the Columbia accident that twelve humans have been in space simultaneously; three aboard the International Space Station (Expedition 13), three aboard Soyuz TMA-9, and six aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis, flying mission STS-115. The capsule launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a Soyuz-FG rocket at 09:08 MDS (04:08 UTC) on Monday 18 September 2006. It docked with the ISS on Wednesday 20 September to begin a six-month stay on the orbiting laboratory. Anousheh Ansari, the spaceflight participant launched by TMA-9, returned to Earth alongside Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer Jeffrey Williams of the Expedition 13 crew aboard Soyuz TMA-8 on 29 September 2006 at 01:13 UTC. Undocking from the ISS took place at 21:53 UTC on 28 September. López-Alegría and Tyurin undocked from ISS on 21 April 2007, 09:11 UTC, and landed at 12:31:30 UTC, after a seven-month stay on the station.

References

External links

Soyuz TMA-9 Soyuz TMA-9 Relocation On ISS YouTube video

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Soyuz TMA-9

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Soyuz TMA-9 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, 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-9 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-9 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-9

In research: Soyuz TMA-9 appears in astronomy 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-9 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-9 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, Orbital space tourism flights, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Soyuz TMA-9 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-9 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Soyuz TMA-9 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-9 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Soyuz TMA-9 in simple terms?

Soyuz TMA-9 was a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station (ISS) launched by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle. It was a human spaceflight mission transporting personnel to and from the ISS.

Why does Soyuz TMA-9 matter?

Because it connects several astronomy 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-9?

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-9.