Soyuz TMA-9: Seven Months as an International Space Station Return Vehicle

Soyuz TMA-9 transported people to the International Space Station and served as its docked lifeboat. Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin commanded the Soyuz, while American astronaut Michael López-Alegría would command Expedition 14. American entrepreneur Anousheh Ansari occupied the third seat for a short visit under a commercial agreement, with a different itinerary from the long-stay crew.

The Soyuz TMA retained orbital, descent and instrumentation/propulsion modules; only the descent module landed with the crew. To accommodate a wider range of body sizes, the series changed seats, impact absorbers and control displays, undergoing ground, drop and flight tests. Every astronaut had a fitted seat liner. Astronauts arriving by shuttle also transferred their liners to the assigned Soyuz so that suitable seats would be available for emergency evacuation.

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The spacecraft launched from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, at about 04:09 on 18 September 2006. These and subsequent times use Coordinated Universal Time. Houston’s report describing late evening on 17 September in Central Daylight Time refers to the same launch. Docking followed at 05:21 on 20 September, with hatches opened at 08:34.

The arriving crew met Expedition 13 members and ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter, who stayed to form a three-person expedition with Tyurin and López-Alegría. Russian and American controllers arranged handovers on equipment, procedures and living conditions. Arrival was the beginning of station work. Ansari returned on 29 September aboard the earlier Soyuz TMA-8, while TMA-9 remained in orbit.

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ESA arranged four experiments for Ansari. Chromosome-2 used pre- and postflight blood samples to investigate chromosome changes and radiation effects. NEOCYTOLYSIS studied selective destruction of young red blood cells. Low Back Pain combined daily questionnaires and ground examinations, while SAMPLE collected specimens from the body and station surfaces such as switches and keyboards to investigate microbes and environmental adaptation.

The projects accumulated participant data across missions. Ansari’s blood samples, questionnaires and onboard sampling joined continuing studies. ESA’s 2006 annual report records participation in four medical experiments, making the short visit part of the station’s scientific program.

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Long-term docking did not mean remaining in one place. On 10 October 2006, Tyurin flew TMA-9 from Zvezda’s aft port to Zarya’s Earth-facing port in a twenty-minute relocation, making space for the next Progress cargo vehicle. López-Alegría and Reiter accompanied him, leaving the station temporarily uncrewed.

On 29 March 2007, a twenty-four-minute relocation moved it back to Zvezda’s aft port to prepare for Soyuz TMA-10. Sunita Williams, who had arrived by shuttle, was now the third occupant. Before relocation, low voltage briefly appeared on the main battery and Tyurin used the backup. Checks linked the change to systems starting up, and the main battery returned to normal. Everyone boarded the vehicle and the station was prepared to operate autonomously, allowing a common return if redocking failed.

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TMA-9 provided transport and evacuation while experiments mainly took place in station modules. During Expedition 14, Williams operated the MIT team’s SPHERES experiment: three spherical devices approximately twenty centimeters across flew together inside the station, using small thrusters to test formation flight and autonomous docking. A March 2007 mission report records the three-device test.

Maintenance and exterior construction also took substantial time. López-Alegría completed five spacewalks during the expedition, including three within nine days, reducing repeated preparation work. Soyuz supplied transport and emergency return; the station provided a base for extended experiments, equipment upkeep and assembly.

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In April 2007, TMA-10 delivered replacement crew and visitor Charles Simonyi. Simonyi used the third TMA-9 return seat while Williams stayed aboard. Landing originally planned for 20 April was delayed one day because wet ground might hamper helicopter recovery, with a more southerly landing area selected.

Tyurin, López-Alegría and Simonyi departed on 21 April, landing on the Kazakh steppe at 12:31. More than 215 days separated launch and landing, while Ansari’s visit, Simonyi’s visit and the main crew’s long flight each had their own durations. Landing ended TMA-9’s orbital assignment, followed by medical checks, rehabilitation and debriefing for the long-stay crew at Star City near Moscow.

References: [3] [6]