Soyuz MS-16

Soyuz MS-16

Irkutapproaches the ISS
Mission type	Crewed mission to ISS
Operator	Roscosmos
COSPAR ID	2020-023A
SATCATno.	45465
Mission duration	195 days, 18 hours and 49 minutes
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Soyuz MSNo.745Irkut
Manufacturer	RSC Energia
Launch mass	7,280 kg (16,050 lb)
Crew
Members	Anatoli Ivanishin Ivan Vagner Christopher Cassidy
Start of mission
Launch date	9 April 2020, 08:05:06UTC
Rocket	Soyuz-2.1a(B15000-042)
Launch site	BaikonurSite 31
Contractor	RSC Progress
End of mission
Landing date	22 October 2020, 02:54:12 UTC
Landing site	Kazakh Steppe,150 km (93 mi) southeast ofZhezkazgan
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Inclination	51.66°
Docking withISS
Docking port	Poiskzenith
Docking date	9 April 2020, 14:13:18 UTC
Undocking date	21 October 2020, 23:31:41 UTC
Time docked	195 days, 9 hours and 18 minutes
Cassidy, Ivanishin, Vagner Soyuz programme (crewed)

Soyuz MS-16was aSoyuzspaceflight launched on 9 April 2020,which transported three members of theExpedition 62/63crew to theInternational Space Station.

This flight was the first crewed launch using theSoyuz 2.1alaunch vehicle, and the first crewed Russian mission not to launch fromGagarin's Start(which began modernization renovations afterSoyuz MS-15) sinceSoyuz MS-02in 2016.

Crew

Position	Crew member
Commander	Anatoli Ivanishin,Roscosmos Expedition 62/63 Third and last spaceflight
Flight Engineer 1	Ivan Vagner,Roscosmos Expedition 62/63 First spaceflight
Flight Engineer 2	Christopher Cassidy,NASA Expedition 62/63 Third and last spaceflight

Backup crew

Position	Crew member
Commander	Sergey Ryzhikov,Roscosmos
Flight Engineer 1	Andrei Babkin,Roscosmos
Flight Engineer 2	Stephen Bowen,NASA

Crew notes

This flight would have marked the first spaceflight for rookie cosmonautNikolai Tikhonov,who has been removed from several ISS flights due to delays to the RussianNaukalaboratory module starting withSoyuz MS-04.Tikhonov and Babkin were replaced by their backups, Ivanishin and Vagner, for medical reasons.Tikhonov, the original Soyuz commander, suffered an eye injury, and Russian officials opted to swap both Russian crew members with the back-up crew.

Tikhonov and Babkin were expected to fly onSoyuz MS-17,scheduled for October 2020 when Tikhonov's eye injury was set to have had healed, although the two were not assigned to this mission. Tikhonov has since retired from roscosmos,while Babkin remains an active cosmonaut, but he has not yet been assigned to a future spaceflight.

Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic,the crew's families and media representatives could not watch the launch in Baikonur, and the usual pre-launch traditions dating back toYuri Gagarin's flight onVostok 1were canceled.

Mission

Soyuz MS-16 was launched on 9 April 2020 at 08:05:06 UTC. The Soyuz 2.1a booster's first and core stage engines ignited on time and lifted the rocket away from its firing stand at theBaikonur Cosmodrome,with cosmonautAnatoli Ivanishin,joined by the rookieIvan Vagneron the left and astronautChris Cassidyon the right. Like Ivanishin, Cassidy is making his third space flight. NASA AdministratorJim Bridenstinetweeted congratulations: "Chris Cassidy, Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner are safely in orbit, no virus is stronger than the human desire to explore. I'm grateful to the entire @NASA and @roscosmos teams for their dedication to making this launch a success".

TheInternational Space Stationpassed directly over the launch site about three minutes before the launch and the booster climbed directly into the plane of its orbit. Six orbits after that, at 14:13:18 UTC, the Soyuz docked at thePoiskdocking compartment.

Return

The Soyuz capsule undocked from the International Space Station at approximately 23:32:00 UTC and landed in the steppes of Kazakhstan at 02:54:12 UTC.