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Soyuz TMA-8
Operator	Roscosmos
COSPAR ID	2006-009A
SATCAT no.	28996
Mission duration	182 days
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	Soyuz-TMA 11F732
Manufacturer	Energia
Launch mass	7,270 kilograms (16,030 lb)
Crew
Crew size	3
Members	Pavel Vinogradov; Jeffrey Williams
Launching	Marcos Pontes
Landing	Anousheh Ansari
Callsign	Carat
Start of mission
Launch date	March 30, 2006, 02:30 UTC
Rocket	Soyuz-FG
Launch site	Baikonur 1/5
End of mission
Landing date	September 29, 2006, 01:13 UTC
Landing site	Kazakhstan
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee altitude	200 kilometres (120 mi)
Apogee altitude	241 kilometres (150 mi)
Inclination	51.67 degrees
Period	88.64 minutes
Docking with ISS
Docking port	Zarya nadir
Docking date	1 April 2006; 04:19 UTC
Undocking date	28 September 2006; 21:53 UTC
Time docked	180d 17h 34m
	; From top to bottom: Jeffrey Williams, Marcos Pontes and Pavel Vinogradov. Soyuz programme; (Crewed missions) ← Soyuz TMA-7 Soyuz TMA-9 →

Soyuz TMA-8 was a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station (ISS) launched by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle.

Crew

Soyuz TMA-8 was a transport mission for portions of the International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 13 crew. The flight delivered ISS Commander Pavel Vinogradov and ISS Flight Engineer Jeffrey Williams to the station to replace Expedition 12 crew members. Flight Engineer Marcos Pontes joined the TMA-8 crew for the ascent and docking with ISS, spent approximately seven days aboard the ISS conducting experiments as part of the Missão Centenário, then returned to Earth with the outgoing members of Expedition 12 aboard Soyuz TMA-7. Vinogradov and Williams were joined on their return trip to Earth by Spaceflight Participant Anousheh Ansari who launched aboard Soyuz TMA-9 and spent approximately eight days aboard ISS conducting experiments for the European Space Agency.


Position	Launching crew	Landing crew
Commander	Pavel Vinogradov, Roscosmos^[1] Expedition 13 Second spaceflight
Flight Engineer	Jeffrey Williams, NASA^[1] Expedition 13 Second spaceflight
Spaceflight Participant	Marcos Pontes, AEB^[1] Only spaceflight	/ Anousheh Ansari, SA Only spaceflight Tourist

Back-up crew


Position	Crew
Commander	Fyodor Yurchikhin, Roscosmos^[2]
Flight Engineer	Michael Fincke, NASA^[2]
Flight Engineer	Sergei Volkov, Roscosmos^[2]

Docking with ISS

Docked to ISS: April 1, 2006, 04:19 UTC (to nadir port of Zarya)^[3]
Undocked from ISS: September 28, 2006, 21:53 UTC (from nadir port of Zarya)

Mission highlights

29th crewed flight to ISS (Flight 12S)

Soyuz TMA-8 is a Soyuz spacecraft which was launched on March 30, 2006 by a Soyuz-FG rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Near the end of second stage burn, a communications blackout occurred at Moscow Mission Control. A satellite link was lost, but was restored about 10 minutes later. The crew was safe throughout the loss of communications.

The spacecraft carried two members of the Expedition 13 crew to the International Space Station, together with Marcos Pontes, the first Brazilian in space. The Brazilian government paid Russia approximately $20 million (USD) for Pontes' flight.^[4] They replaced the Expedition 12 crew, Commander William McArthur and Valery Ivanovich Tokarev. Together with the Expedition 12 crew, Marcos Pontes returned to Earth on board Soyuz TMA-7.