The Soyuz TMA-M was a spacecraft developed by Energia and operated by Roscosmos for human spaceflight. Introduced in 2010, it was a revision of the Soyuz spacecraft with modernizations (the '-M' in the name) over its predecessor, the Soyuz TMA, primarily to the main flight computer and avionics. It flew a total of 20 missions from 2010 to 2016, all carrying astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). It was replaced by the Soyuz MS, which introduced further modernized systems.

Design The primary difference between the Soyuz TMA-M and the earlier Soyuz TMA was the removal of several pieces of outdated equipment, many of which were no longer in production. These included the main digital computer, called , and its analogue avionics. They were replaced with a new digital computer, the and digital avionics.

There were also changes to the spacecraft's structure, such as replacing the magnesium alloy used in the instrument module frame with an aluminium alloy, for easier manufacture. In combination, the changes reduced the vehicle's total mass by . Additionally, power consumption was reduced throughout the ship, improving its overall efficiency.

Flights

Two development flights were launched: Soyuz TMA-01M on Oct 7, 2010 and Soyuz TMA-02M on Jun 7, 2011. NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, who flew on TMA-01M, praised the spacecraft's new digital displays, noting that they made flying easier and less demanding.

The third mission, Soyuz TMA-03M, launched on 21 December 2011 and was used for qualification tests. In addition to verifying the nominal operation of the spaceship, the testing included verification of off-nominal modes, such as manual attitude control, issuing of orbital manoeuvring pulses using four berthing and attitude thrusters, and flying around the ISS in manual control mode.

Thereafter the TMA-M entered regular service, where it was used for supply and crew rotation flights to the ISS. The TMA-M variant flew another 20 missions from 2012 to 2016, at a cadence of four times a year, all to the ISS. At that time, the Soyuz TMA-M was the only spacecraft in service that was capable of flying humans to the ISS, so ride-share agreements were in place with other space agencies. All launches carried three astronauts – there were always one or two Russians (from Roscosmos) and one American (from NASA). Half the launches included one astronaut from Europe (ESA), Canada (CSA) or Japan (JAXA).

Mission Launch Vehicle Crew Notes DurationLaunchLanding Soyuz TMA-01M Soyuz-FG Aleksandr Kaleri Oleg Skripochka Scott Kelly Delivered Expedition 25/26 crew to ISS. 159 days Soyuz TMA-02M Soyuz-FG Sergey Volkov Michael E. Fossum Satoshi Furukawa Delivered Expedition 28/29 crew to ISS. 166 days Soyuz TMA-03M Soyuz-FG Oleg Kononenko André Kuipers Donald Pettit Delivered Expedition 30/31 crew to ISS. 192 days Soyuz TMA-04M Soyuz-FG Gennady Padalka Sergey Revin Joseph M. Acaba Delivered Expedition 31/32 crew to ISS. 124 days Soyuz TMA-05M Soyuz-FG Yuri Malenchenko Sunita Williams Akihiko Hoshide Delivered Expedition 32/33 crew to ISS. 126 days Soyuz TMA-06M Soyuz-FG Oleg Novitsky Yevgeny Tarelkin Kevin A. Ford Delivered Expedition 33/34 crew to ISS. 143 days Soyuz TMA-07M Soyuz-FG Roman Romanenko Chris Hadfield Thomas Marshburn Delivered Expedition 34/35 crew to ISS. 145 days Soyuz TMA-08M Soyuz-FG Pavel Vinogradov Alexander Misurkin Christopher Cassidy Delivered Expedition 35/36 crew to ISS. 166 days Soyuz TMA-09M Soyuz-FG Fyodor Yurchikhin Karen Nyberg Luca Parmitano Delivered Expedition 36/37 crew to ISS. 166 days Soyuz TMA-10M Soyuz-FG Oleg Kotov Sergey Ryazansky Mike Hopkins Delivered Expedition 37/38 crew to ISS. 166 days Soyuz TMA-11M Soyuz-FG Mikhail Tyurin Richard Mastracchio Koichi Wakata Delivered Expedition 38/39 crew to ISS. 187 days Soyuz TMA-12M Soyuz-FG Aleksandr Skvortsov Oleg Artemyev Steven Swanson Delivered Expedition 39/40 crew to ISS. 169 days Soyuz TMA-13M Soyuz-FG Maksim Surayev Reid Wiseman Alexander Gerst Delivered Expedition 40/41 crew to ISS. 165 days Soyuz TMA-14M Soyuz-FG Aleksandr Samokutyaev Yelena Serova Barry Wilmore Delivered Expedition 41/42 crew to ISS. 167 days Soyuz TMA-15M Soyuz-FG Anton Shkaplerov Samantha Cristoforetti Terry Virts Delivered Expedition 42/43 crew to ISS. 199 days Soyuz TMA-16M Soyuz-FG Gennady Padalka Mikhail Kornienko Scott Kelly Gennady Padalka Andreas Mogensen Aidyn Aimbetov Delivered Expedition 43/44 crew to ISS. 168 days Soyuz TMA-17M Soyuz-FG Oleg Kononenko Kimiya Yui Kjell N. Lindgren Delivered Expedition 44/45 crew to ISS. 141 days Soyuz TMA-18M Soyuz-FG Sergey Volkov Andreas Mogensen Aidyn Aimbetov Sergey Volkov Mikhail Kornienko Scott Kelly Delivered Expedition 45/46 crew to ISS. 181 days Soyuz TMA-19M Soyuz-FG Yuri Malenchenko Timothy Kopra Tim Peake Delivered Expedition 46/47 crew to ISS. 185 days Soyuz TMA-20M Soyuz-FG Aleksey Ovchinin Oleg Skripochka Jeffrey Williams Delivered Expedition 47/48 crew to ISS. 172 days

Replacement Further development of the Soyuz capsule design led to the introduction of the Soyuz MS in 2016, which replaced the Soyuz TMA-M.

References

External links Mir Hardware Heritage David S.F. Portree, Mir Hardware Heritage, NASA RP-1357, 1995 Mir Hardware Heritage (wikisource)

OMWorld's ASTP Docking Trainer Page NASA – Russian Soyuz TMA Spacecraft Details Space Adventures circum-lunar mission – details www.russianspaceweb.com – The Soyuz spacecraft