SOYUZ-TMA 16M

SOYUZ-TMA 16M is no longer on orbit
SOYUZ-TMA 16M is classified as:

NORAD ID: 40542

Int'l Code: 2015-016A

Launch date: March 27, 2015
Source: Commonwealth of Independent States (former USSR) (CIS)
Launch site: TYURATAM MISSILE AND SPACE COMPLEX (TTMTR)
Decay date: 2015-09-12

SOYUZ TMA-16M is a 2015 flight to the International Space Station. It transported three members of the Expedition 43 crew to the Station: Gennady Padalka, Scott Kelly and Mikhail Korniyenko. TMA-16M is the 125th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft, the first having launched in 1967. The Soyuz will most likely remain docked to the Station for the Expedition 44 increment to serve as an emergency escape vehicle until its scheduled departure in September 2015. Kelly and Kornienko will participate in a wide range of experiments to monitor the physiological effects of space travel as well as the psychological impact of an extended flight in a limited, closed environment far beyond family and friends. As an added bonus, Kelly's twin brother Mark, a retired shuttle astronaut, will participate in similar experiments on the ground to provide points of comparison. Scott Kelly is a veteran of two shuttle flights and a 159-day aboard the station in 2010-11. He said his primary concern is pacing himself and keeping on an even keel as the days turn into weeks and the weeks into months. Kelly and Kornienko will be on board during one of the most extensive space station reconfigurations since the shuttle fleet was retired in 2011.