Soyuz TMA-22, which brought the remaining three Expedition 29 crew members to the ISS, was originally scheduled to launch in September 2011, but due to the launch failure of the Progress M-12M resupply vehicle on 24 August, its launch was delayed to 14 November.[2] It docked successfully with the ISS on 16 November 2011.[3]
Expedition 29 officially ended with the undocking of Soyuz TMA-02M on 21 November 2011. Furukawa, Fossum, and Volkov returned to Earth aboard the spacecraft, while astronauts Dan Burbank, Anton Shkaplerov, and Anatoli Ivanishin remained on the ISS as part of Expedition 30.[4]
Soyuz TMA-22 launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome at 04:14 UTC on 14 November 2011, carrying Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoli Ivanishin (Roscosmos), and Daniel Burbank (NASA). The spacecraft was placed into a 250-kilometre (160 mi) parking orbit,[8] and docked successfully with the ISS at 5:24 am GMT on 16 November 2011.[3]
Departure of Soyuz TMA-02M
Expedition 29 concluded with the departure of Soyuz TMA-02M from the ISS at 11:00 pm GMT on 21 November 2011, carrying astronauts Fossum, Volkov and Furukawa. The spacecraft soft-landed safely (albeit on its side) in Kazakhstan at 2:26 am GMT on 22 November.[9]