* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Expedition 18 Mission

Blobrana · L

Dropping to Earth under a huge parachute, a Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying outgoing space station commander Mike Fincke, flight engineer Yury Lonchakov and space tourist Charles Simonyi settled to a jarring landing in Kazakhstan today after a briefly blacked-out descent from the International Space Station.
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Blobrana · L

A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying US space tourist Charles Simonyi and two other crewmembers has landed in Kazakhstan, Russian officials say.
The craft touched down at 11:16 local time (07:16 GMT) as planned, a few hours after undocking from the international space station (ISS).

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Blobrana · L

Two members of the 18th crew to live and work aboard the International Space Station and a spaceflight participant returned to Earth at 2:16 a.m. CDT Wednesday. NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Russian cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov and spaceflight participant Charles Simonyi safely landed their Soyuz spacecraft in the steppes of southern Kazakhstan.
The Expedition 18 crew members undocked their Soyuz from the station at 10:55 p.m. April 7. The deorbit burn to slow the Soyuz and begin its descent toward Earth began at 1:24 a.m. April 8. The landing was moved to a more southerly landing site because of poor landing conditions at the original site.

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Blobrana · L

NASA Television will air the landing of the Expedition 18 crew and a visiting spaceflight participant on Wednesday, April 8. Russian managers on Friday postponed the Soyuz landing one day and switched to a more southerly landing site in Kazakhstan because of soggy conditions at the original site.
Expedition 18 Commander E. Michael Fincke, Flight Engineer and Soyuz Commander Yury Lonchakov and Spaceflight Participant Charles Simonyi will return to Earth at 2:15 a.m. CDT, which is 1:15 p.m. local time in Kazakhstan. The landing will take place near the town of Dzhezkazgan, which is west of Karaganda and southeast of the usual landing zone near Arkalyk. Fincke and Lonchakov have been aboard the orbiting laboratory since October 2008 and will land in the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft that carried them into orbit.

Source

Blobrana · L

Soyuz-U SL-4 Rocket Body Re-entry

Blobrana · L

A Soyuz-U SL-4 Rocket Body that was launched on the 12th October 2008, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome to ferry the Expedition 18 crew to the ISS, is predicted to re-enter the Earths atmosphere on the 16th October 2008 @ 9:10 GMT ± 48 hours.

Predicted Decay Location   46.8° S, 254.5° E
Inclination   51.7°
Revolution Number   68

TLE Data

SL-4 RB
1 33400U 08050B   08288.56038339  .02113389  12126-4  44738-3 0   113
2 33400 051.6390 124.0144 0022097 086.0929 274.4464 16.29248864   344
1 33400U 08050B   08287.94654518 +.01693467 +12057-4 +44456-3 0 00105
2 33400 051.6376 127.4281 0029006 083.0506 277.4213 16.26418385000240
1 33400U 08050B   08288.25356733  .01966908  12090-4  47116-3 0   104
2 33400 051.6390 125.7209 0023441 084.8244 275.5646 16.27855285   291
1 33400U 08050B   08288.25364427  .02017319  12091-4  47930-3 0    90
2 33400 051.6369 125.7199 0024306 084.5316 276.2990 16.27874516   291
1 33400U 08050B   08288.00797541  .01693975  12062-4  43705-3 0    80
2 33400 051.6369 127.0868 0028742 083.1222 277.3084 16.26628110   256

Blobrana · L

RE: Expedition 18 Mission

Blobrana · L

Soyuz TMA-13 Launch from Baikonur (Full)

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Blobrana · L

Google co-founder Sergey Brin, considering going into space on a private flight, made a surprise visit to Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome on Saturday to wish good luck to a fellow space tourist.
Richard Garriott, a U.S. computer game developer and Brin's friend, blasted off into orbit aboard Russia's Soyuz spaceship on Sunday afternoon alongside U.S. astronaut Michael Fincke and Russian cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov.

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