Image: NASA, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Soyuz TM-34
Mission Profile
| Launch date | 2002-04-25 |
|---|---|
| Launch site | Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 1/5 |
| Launch vehicle | Soyuz-U |
| Spacecraft | Soyuz 7K-STM No. 256 (Soyuz-TM) |
| Target | Low Earth Orbit |
| Type | Crewed |
| End date | 2002-11-10 |
| Duration | Shuttleworth: 9 days 21 hours; spacecraft: 198 days 17 hours |
| Partners | Russia, ESA, South Africa, Space Adventures |
Overview
Soyuz TM-34 carried the first African in space, South African internet entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth, who self-funded his seat through Space Adventures for a reported $20 million. The final flight of the veteran Soyuz-TM series, it launched on 25 April 2002 as a 'taxi' mission to deliver a fresh lifeboat to the International Space Station and rotate the older Soyuz TM-33. Shuttleworth flew with commander Yuri Gidzenko and ESA's Roberto Vittori on the Marco Polo mission, conducting AIDS- and genome-related biology experiments and stem-cell research, and speaking with Nelson Mandela and South African schoolchildren from orbit. After eight days docked to the ISS, the visiting trio returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-33. The TM-34 spacecraft remained as the station lifeboat and brought a later crew home in November 2002.
Crew
Yuri Gidzenko
Commander (up)
Rosaviakosmos; ISS visiting (taxi) crew
Roberto Vittori
Flight Engineer (up)
ESA (Italy); Marco Polo mission; returned on Soyuz TM-33
Mark Shuttleworth
Spaceflight Participant (up)
First African in space; self-funded via Space Adventures; returned on Soyuz TM-33
Sergei Zalyotin
Commander (down)
Returned aboard TM-34 in November 2002
Frank De Winne
Flight Engineer (down)
ESA (Belgium); Odissea mission; returned aboard TM-34
Key Milestones
2002-04-25
Launch from Baikonur with Gidzenko, Vittori and South Africa's Mark Shuttleworth
2002-04-27
Docking with the International Space Station's Zarya module
2002-05-05
Shuttleworth, Gidzenko and Vittori return to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-33
2002-11-10
Soyuz TM-34 returns the Expedition 5 taxi crew, ending the Soyuz-TM series
Key Achievements
First African and first South African in space
Second self-funded private spaceflight participant
Final flight of the Soyuz-TM spacecraft series and last crewed Soyuz-U launch
