Soyuz TMA-04M

Soyuz TMA-04M
Soyuz TMA-04M departs the ISS
OperatorRoscosmos
COSPAR ID2012-022A
SATCAT no.38291
Mission duration124 days, 23 hours, 51 minutes, 30 seconds
Orbits completed~1,945
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft typeSoyuz-TMA 11F747
ManufacturerEnergia
Crew
Crew size3
MembersGennady Padalka
Sergei Revin
Joseph M. Acaba
CallsignAltair
Start of mission
Launch date15 May 2012, 03:01:23 (2012-05-15UTC03:01:23Z) UTC
RocketSoyuz-FG
Launch siteBaikonur 1/5
End of mission
Landing date17 September 2012, 02:53 (2012-09-17UTC02:54Z) UTC
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth
Perigee altitude410 kilometres (250 mi)
Apogee altitude433 kilometres (269 mi)
Inclination51.64 degrees
Period92.86 minutes
Epoch17 September 2012, 01:22:43 UTC
Docking with ISS
Docking portPoisk zenith
Docking date17 May 2012, 04:36 UTC
Undocking date16 September 2012, 23:09 UTC
Time docked4 months

(l-r) Acaba, Padalka and Revin
Soyuz programme
(Crewed missions)

Soyuz TMA-04M was a spaceflight to Low Earth orbit that transported three members of the Expedition 31 crew to the International Space Station (ISS), which was launched on 15 May 2012 and landed on 17 September 2012. TMA-04M was the Soyuz spacecraft's 113th flight since its initial launch in 1967, and the fourth launch of the improved Soyuz TMA-M series (first launched 7 October 2010). As per the mission plan, the spacecraft remained docked to the space station to serve as an emergency escape vehicle during Expedition 31.

The mission was successfully launched to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, 15 May 2012, at 3:01:23 UTC (9:01:23 local time). The Soyuz docked successfully with the ISS on 17 May at 4:36 UTC. The spacecraft carried to the ISS a three-person crew (Gennady Padalka, Russia; Sergei Revin, Russia; Joseph Acaba, United States). The mission landed successfully in Kazakhstan on 17 September 2012, at 2:53 UTC.