03/04/2016

Soyuz TMA-18M Spacecraft successfully landed with "Year in Space" crew

Three Optolink's TRS-500 fiber-optic gyroscopes, installed into control system of Descent Module of Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft, successfully executed their mission during landing. Three International Space Station crew members made a successful on-target landing aboard the Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft on 2 March 2016 04:26 UTC (7:26 am Moscow time) around 147 kilometers southeast from the town of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan. Scott Kelly (NASA) and Mikhail Kornienko (Roscosmos) returned to Earth after a 340-day mission, making 5,440 orbits around the planet in the longest flight in ISS history. Their commander, Sergei Volkov (Roscosmos), returned after a 182-day flight. Kelly's and Kornienko's March-to-March mission was flown to collect medical data in support of future, longer missions out into the solar system, including sending crews to Mars.