Soyuz TMA-15 Launch: May 27, 2009

[DJUFat]

there rockets always seem to work and so well too!

[themainproblem]

This is the coolest looking rocket ever! Russian spacecraft engineers rock! 

[Scrat335]

These rockets are very good. The have the highest launch rate/success if any ever built. American rockets are good too but not used as much.

[legionario501]

iam not russian and not american but is not MUCH BETTER the soyuz launch ?

[ecuellaro]

El Soyuz NO ES ni por poco tan complejo como los transbordadores espaciales Estadounidenses los cuales estan habilitados para soportar vida en el espacio por periodos muchisimo mas prolongados, tienen mas capacidad de carga y estan habilitados para efectuar experimentos y reparaciones en el espacio como la reciente mision al Hubble la cual no hubiera sido para nada posible con el Soyuz!...

me xi ca ni to!

[evgeniy3333]

ЖАБА!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TheHasanJamil]

I luv the way the four arms release once the rocket has enough momentum. Clearly the Russians mastered rocket technology. By the way anybody has any idea how large vostochny cosmodrome would be compared to baikonur

[cmdrnmartin]

They always had simple elegant solutions. They transport the rocket horizontally to launch pad on rails, raise it there. The arms fall away due to gravity, unlike the US systems which rely on precise timing to swing away, and of course, the old US multi million dollar Space Pen vs the Russian Pencil. Still the US gave us Saturn 5, which the Russians didn't match until the 80s with Energia.

[bombarderoazul]

Compare this to the space shuttle which gets delayed many times . WHen the russians say we are launching on monday, they really do launch on monday, the american shuttle is so complex that even small malfunctions cause the launch to be delayed to another date. I have seen the russians launch in bad weather.

[bjornjoseph]

@bombarderoazul thats why the shuttle is being retired.. final launch is friday... going back to the single rocket idea

[theadrum]

They use a very clean burning fuel. Compare to the huge smoke plumes from the US shuttle at launch.

[bobo441]

Beautiful.Truely beautiful.I always love Suyuz launches but more importantly the works of these brave souls in the name of improving science.Beautiful.

[neloza86]

The soyuz spacecraft another great victory for the russian space program. It's nice to see that the U.S. shuttle is no longer going to fly because it was simply to expensive and unreliable. The U.S. is admitting defeat by cancelling the shuttle and confirming the superiority of the Russian Soyuz by the fact their next spacecraft is going to follow the same concept of the soyuz.

[pantigalt]

I'm also wondering - half a billion for every shuttle launch is too much in comparing with 20-30 millions of Soyuz.

Of course shuttle can carry more weight but for what?

[ecuellaro]

for what?

Mundane tasks like putting in orbit the Hubble telescope, going back to perform repairs on it, transporting equipment and supplies to the International Space Station, installing solar panels to it..... noting too important... yeah!

[TheHoorse]

It's not about winning or losing, declaring victory or admitting defeat. Space exploration has become a concerted effort amongst nations. Mainly due to geopolitical changes and budget cuts. There are many different concepts now being shared between the space programs. The most effective and efficient ideas are shared, such as the soyuz concept. I also wouldn't saythe shuttle isn't reliable, otherwise it wouldn't still be used, however, I agree it is too expensive and not cost effective.

[chick5581]

haha this video is too funny. that's pretty cool though. very intriguing. You seriously make me want to make my own videos!

[01467603]

funny?

[gert944]

Goeie vlucht Frank en collega's.

Wij Belgen kunnen fier op je zijn!!

Good flight Frank and colleagues.

We Belgians can be proud of you!!

[bartjeneyens]

ja ge ziet he als die van " de limburg" op vakantie gaan doen ze het zeker te goei he!!!...haha...

[pkpasternack]

Good Luck Bob Youre making us all proud here in Canada!

[toontheevilshrubery]

I'm from Belgium and I just want to say that we're all very proud of Frank. He's the closest thing we have to a natioanal hero. Good luck to you and of coure to Roman and Bob!!

[gusza84]

Awesome thanks for the post.

[lordtiman]

Thanks for adding this video such a short time after the launch! ;)