Launch Success
Liftoff Time (GMT)
03:53:52
Saturday April 26, 2003
Soyuz TMA-2 was a Soyuz (Russian Союз ТМА-2, Union TMA-2) mission to the International Space Station (ISS) launched by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle. The spacecraft docked with the ISS 2003-04-28 and undocked 2003-10-27. Soyuz TMA-2 was the second flight for the TMA modification of the Soyuz spacecraft, and the 6th Soyuz to fly to the ISS. The commander is Yuri Ivanovich Malenchenko (Russia), and flight engineer Edward Tsang Lu (USA), and after docking with the ISS they exchanged with the resident crew on ISS and became the seventh station crew, called "ISS Expedition Seven". Alexander Kaleri and Michael Foale were assigned as the backup crew. The Soyuz is a Soviet crewed spacecraft, developed to perform lunar missions with crew. This version called 7K will fly 4 times on the giant launcher N1, and several tens of times on Proton to fly over the Moon, which will be successful during the mission Zond 4. Soyuz will become the first spacecraft to transport living beings on the Moon during the flight of Zond 5, with two turtles. Thereafter, it is adapted to the low orbit and will fly on the Soyuz launcher to supply the Soviet Salyut and Mir stations, and the ISS.
Low Earth Orbit
1 Payload
7,136 kilograms
Manufacturer
RKK EnergiyaRocket
Height: 51.32m
Payload to Orbit
LEO: 7,300 kg
GTO: 0 kg
Liftoff Thrust
4,550 Kilonewtons
Fairing
Diameter: 3m
Height: 15.59m
Stages
3
Strap-ons
4
5th
Mission
1st
Mission of 2003
16th
Orbital launch attempt