Expedition 15

ISS Expedition
Name = Expedition 15
Insignia = ISS Expedition 15 patch.pngCallSign = Expedition 15
NumberOfCrew = 3
LaunchDate = April 7, 2007 (Soyuz TMA-10), June 8, 2007 (STS-117)
LaunchSite = Baikonur, Cape Canaveral
LaunchVehicle = Soyuz TMA-10 (Yurchikhin/Kotov), Atlantis STS-117 (Anderson)
StationVisitLength = April 9, 2007 07:10 UTC - October 21, 2007 07:14 UTC
StationEVALength = 11 hours 2 minutes
LandingDate = October 21, 2007 (Soyuz TMA-10), November 3, 2007 (STS-120)
LandingVehicle = Soyuz TMA-10 (Yurchikhin/Kotov), Discovery STS-120 (Anderson)
LandingSite = Ballistic Trajectory Landing Site northwest of Arkalyk
Duration = 196 days, 17 hours, 17 minutes
Orbits =
Distance =
Mass =
CrewPhoto =Expedition 15.jpg
CrewCaption = Second part crew from left to right: Clayton Anderson, Fyodor Yurchikhin, Oleg Kotov
previous = Expedition 14
next = Expedition 16

Expedition 15 was the 15th expedition to the International Space Station (ISS). Four crew members participated in the expedition, although for most of the expedition's duration only three were on the station at any one time. During Expedition 15, the ISS Integrated Truss Structure was expanded twice: STS-117 brought the S3/S4 truss, and STS-118 brought the S5 truss.

Crew

First part (April to June 2007)

*Fyodor Yurchikhin (2)* CommanderCite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/oct/HQ_06337_new_station_crew.html|title=NASA Announces New International Space Station Crew|accessyear=2007|accessmonthday=October 21|publisher=NASA|year=2006|author=NASA|language=English] - flagicon|RUS RSA
*Oleg Kotov (1) Flight Engineer - flagicon|RUS RSA
*Sunita Williams (1) Flight Engineer - flagicon|USA NASA

econd part (June to October 2007)

*Fyodor Yurchikhin (2) Commander - flagicon|RUS RSA
*Oleg Kotov (1) Flight Engineer - flagicon|RUS RSA
*Clayton Anderson (1) Flight Engineer - flagicon|USA NASA

(*) number of spaceflights each crew member has completed, including this mission.

Flight Engineer Sunita Williams was the first Expedition 15 crew member to arrive. She participated in Expedition 14, until Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin assumed command of the station. Williams arrived at the station on December 11, 2006, aboard the Space Shuttle "Discovery" flight STS-116. Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov arrived the station on 9 April, 2007 aboard Soyuz TMA-10.

On 26 April, 2007, NASA announced that Williams would return to Earth on STS-117, flown by Space Shuttle "Atlantis", instead of STS-118 as originally planned. [cite web | author=NASA|url = http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/apr/HQ_07093_Williams_Return.html | title = NASA to Rotate Station Astronauts on Next Shuttle Mission | publisher = NASA] Williams was replaced by Clayton Anderson, who arrived at the station aboard "Atlantis", which docked on June 10.

Expedition 15 ended officially after Expedition 16 Commander Peggy Whitson arrived at the station aboard Soyuz TMA-11, and the official change of command ceremony took place on Friday, October 19, 2007.

Back-up crew

*Roman Romanenko Commander - RSA
*Mikhail Korniyenko Flight Engineer - RSA
*Gregory Chamitoff Flight Engineer - NASA (for Anderson)

Mission details

*Launch: April 7, 2007 17:31 UTC
*Docking: April 9, 2007 07:10 UTC
*Undocking: October 21, 2007 07:14 UTC
*Landing: October 21, 2007 10:46 UTC
*LandingSite: Ballistic Trajectory Landing Site northwest of Arkalyk

On October 21, 2007, after the separation of the Soyuz TMA-10 capsule, Moscow Mission Control reported that the Soyuz had entered into a ballistic trajectory, which resulted in a landing that was km to mi|340|wiki=yes short of the intended Kazakhstan landing site.Cite web|url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/station/exp15/071021landing.html|title=Soyuz capsule makes 'ballistic' descent to Earth|accessyear=2007|accessmonthday=October 21|publisher=CBS News - Spaceflight Now|year=2007|author=William Harwood|language=English] Cite web|url=http://www.abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=3756666|title=Soyuz Craft Lands Safely in Kazakhstan|accessyear=2007|accessmonthday=October 21|publisher=ABC News|year=2007|author=Associated Press|language=English] Landing occurred without incident, and by 10:55 UTC, all crew members were out of the capsule, and the vehicle was secured. The only other time a Soyuz landing has resulted in a ballistic trajectory was the landing of Soyuz TMA-1, for Expedition 6.

EVAs

*EVA 1: May 30, 2007 - Yurchikhin/Kotov, 5 hours, 25 minutes.Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition15/exp15_eva18.html|title=Spacewalk Complete, Debris Panels Installed|accessyear=2007|accessmonthday=October 21|publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration|year=2007|author=NASA|language=English]
*EVA 2: June 6, 2007 - Yurchikhin/Kotov, 5 hours, 37 minutes.Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition15/exp15_eva19.html|title=Cosmonauts Wrap Up Debris-Panel Spacewalk|accessyear=2007|accessmonthday=October 21|publisher=NASA| year=2007| author=NASA|language=English]
*:Total Expedition 15 EVA time: 11 hours, 2 minutes.

References

External links

*cite web | url = http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition15/index.html | title = NASA - International Space Station Expedition 15 | publisher = NASA
*cite web | url = http://www.energia.ru/english/energia/iss/iss-15.html | title = EXPEDITION FIFTEEN (ISS-15)
publisher = S.P.Korolev RSC Energia
*cite web | url = http://www.spacefacts.de/iss/english/exp_15.htm | title = ISS: Expedition 15 | publisher = SPACEFACTS
* [http://www.space-astronautics.com/iss/04-apr-2007-iss.html 04/04/07: Soyuz Assembly Complete: Expedition 15 to Launch on April 7.] Site includes all ISS Status Reports since 2003.