Soyuz TM-33

Mission Profile

Overview

Soyuz TM-33 carried Claudie Haigneré back to orbit as the first European woman to visit the International Space Station. Launched on 21 October 2001 with commander Viktor Afanasyev and flight engineer Konstantin Kozeyev, Haigneré — by then married and a CNES veteran of Mir — flew the French Andromède mission, the first French human flight to the ISS. Over eight days docked to the young station she conducted a broad CNES science programme spanning physiology, cell biology, developmental biology, fluid physics and Earth observation. The crew delivered a fresh Soyuz lifeboat and departed aboard the older Soyuz TM-32, the same vehicle that had launched Dennis Tito months earlier. Haigneré, a physician and neuroscientist, would soon leave the cosmonaut corps to serve as France's minister for research and new technologies, capping a career of historic firsts for European spaceflight.

Crew

Key Milestones

1. 2001-10-21

   Launch from Baikonur at 09:00 UTC with Afanasyev, Kozeyev and Haigneré

2. 2001-10-23

   Docking with the International Space Station; Andromède experiments begin

3. 2001-10-31

   Andromède crew returns to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-32 after ~10 days

4. 2002-05-05

   Soyuz TM-33 vehicle returns with a later taxi crew, ending its station duty

Key Achievements

• Claudie Haigneré became the first European woman to visit the International Space Station

• Flew the Andromède mission, France's first human flight to the ISS

• Delivered a fresh Soyuz lifeboat to the station

Related Missions

Sources

1. Wikipedia — Soyuz TM-33
2. ESA — Andromède mission