ESA astronaut Tim Peake, NASA astronaut Tim Kopra and commander Yuri Malenchenko were launched into space 15 Decemeber 11:03 GMT from Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.The launch marks the start of Tim Peake’s six-month Principia mission on the International Space Station running over 30 scientific experiments for ESA.Follow Tim Peake viatimpeake.esa.int and follow the whole mission on ESA’sPrincipia blog.
Full launch replay here:
http://www.esa.int/spaceinvideos/Videos/2015/12/Principia_launch
ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, NASA astronaut Terry Virts and Russian commander Anton Shkaplerov landed in the Kazakh steppe after a three-hour ride in their Soyuz spacecraft 11 June 2015. They left the International Space Station at 10:20 GMT at the end of their six-month stay on the research complex.
Soyuz TMA-15M braked from the Station’s cruising speed of almost 28 800 km/h and entered the atmosphere six hours later. The small descent module separated as planned and parachutes deployed to slow the vehicle down even more.
The module fired retrorockets moments before landing and springs in the moulded seats reduced the impact of hitting the steppe at 13:44 GMT. Teams were on hand within minutes to help them out.
This timelapse video shows the Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft during transfer from the MIK 40 integration facility to Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad 31, as well as the launch on 23 November 2014 with ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti and her crewmates to the International Space Station where they will live and work for five months.
With Samantha are Russian Soyuz commander Anton Shkaplerov and NASA astronaut Terry Virts. All three are part of the Station’s Expedition 42/43 crew.
On this mission, Samantha is flying as an ESA astronaut for Italy’s ASI space agency under a special agreement between ASI and NASA.
Directed by Stephane Corvaja, ESA
Edited by Manuel Pedoussaut, Zetapress
Music: MZB