Soyuz TMA-1

Mission highlights

In spring 2001, a taxi mission to the space station was scheduled for October 2002. The initial crew was commander Sergei Zalyotin and flight engineer Frank De Winne. A February 2002 report indicated American musician Lance Bass was interested in joining for a one-week mission. By September 2002, Bass's training was discontinued due to the mission organizers' failure to meet contract terms, and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Lonchakov filled the vacant seat.

Soyuz TMA-1 disembarked from the ISS on May 4, 2003, and began its return to Earth, marking the first entry and descent for this Soyuz class. A technical malfunction caused the Soyuz control system to abandon controlled entry for a ballistic reentry, resulting in a steep, off-target landing 300 miles short of the planned area. The crew experienced severe acceleration loads. Communication was lost because one antenna was ripped off during descent and two more did not deploy; the crew regained communications via an emergency transmitter after landing.

Future crews were subsequently provided with satellite phones. Subsequent Soyuz TMA missions executed controlled reentries until Soyuz TMA-10 and Soyuz TMA-11, which also reverted to ballistic descents. Don Pettit, concerned that film documenting his science experiments would be damaged by space radiation, secured a 20 kg pack on his chest during reentry. While a normal Soyuz entry involves 3 G's, the ballistic reentry subjected the crew to over 8 G's, making the pack feel like 160 kg.

Pettit was left exhausted and reportedly dislocated a shoulder, but space agencies downplayed the situation, stating the astronauts were in good shape.