Soyuz TM-31
(Soyuz Taxi 1)

Crew:
    Upload:
        Yuri Gidzenko [2], Commander
        Sergei Krikalyov [5], Flight Engineer
        William Shepherd [4], Flight Engineer (USA)
    Download:
        Talgat Musabayev (Soyuz TM-32)
        Yuri Baturin (Soyuz TM-32)
        Dennis Tito (Soyuz TM-32)

Backup Crew:
    Vladimir Dezhurov
    Mikhail Tyurin
    Kenneth Bowersox (USA)

Launch:
    Location: Baikonur, Site 1/5
    Date: 31 October 2000
    Time: 07:52:47 UTC

Landing:
    Date: 6 May 2001
    Time: 05:41:28 UTC
    Location: 50° 38.7' N, 66° 43.9' E

Docking:
    Zvezda aft, 2 November 2000 09:21 UTC - 24 February 2001 10:06 UTC
    Zarya nadir, 24 February 2001 10:37 UTC - 18 April 2001 12:40 UTC
    Zvezda, aft, 18 April 2001 13:01 UTC - 6 May 2001 02:21 UTC

Duration: 186 days, 21 hours, 48 minutes, 41 seconds

Upload Call Sign: Uran (Uranus)
Download Call Sign: Kristall (Crystal)

Soyuz TM-31 was the ferry ship which delivered the Expedition 1 crew to the International Space Station. It remained docked for about 6 months and served as the crew's emergency lifeboat until replacement by Soyuz TM-32.

During the return flight, the crew was celebrating their stay aboard the station and missed the first audio cue to arm the reentry rocket burn. When they heard the second audio cue, they thought it was the first and delayed pushing the correct button until it was too late. The autopilot determined that the craft was headed too far downrange and compensated by diving more steeply. As a result, the normal deceleration of about 4.8 G's was increased to nearly 7 G's.

This was Space Station Assembly Flight 2R.

Crew

 

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Page last modified: 20 June 2022 16:58:57.