Expedition 17's Soyuz Rocket Is Rolled To The Launch Pad

Rollout of the Soyuz launch vehicle to the pad during prelaunch preparations for the launch of Expedition 17. Commander Sergei Alexandrovich Volkov and cosmonaut Oleg Dmitrievich Kononenko of the 17th International Space Station crew launched in their Soyuz TMA-12 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 7:16 a.m. EDT Tuesday to begin a six-month stay in space. With Volkov, a lieutenant colonel in the Russian Air Force, and Kononenko is spaceflight participant So-yeon Yi. She is a South Korean flying under contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• NASA
• Russia
• Soyuz
• rocket
• launch
• liftoff
• spaceflight
• space
• station
• Expedition
• 17

[TerryJHancock]

@bulldaawg The plans call them aerodynamic speed brakes. I think they must only be used in the event of a high-altitude/high-speed abort (in which shroud and spacecraft are ejected by the escape tower, then the landing module is recovered by parachute). They are missing from the shroud on Progress (for which there is no crew to save in an abort).

[chillaxer1993]

this is such a reliable rocket. for 50 years, the Russians have used the R-7 Sputnik derived engines. awesome!

[bulldaawg]

What are the 4 large square panels on the side of the upper stage...

[roeboat72]

I have to admit, I love how the Russians make these as simple as possible. Why stuck the rocket upwards when you can do it sideways, and why use a crawler transporter when you can have a train do it. It works for them just like how the United States way works for us.

[humexavier]

Future Idea:Ever heard of magnetized rocket wings,small rocket wings that are highly magnetized against each other with high energy wings and lower wings are half size of upper; but both are highly magnetized and much less vibration of launch wing drag.

[000darkstar000]

AWSUM vid thnx 4post'n*****