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Using the Russian Soyuz TMA Spacecraft

The Soyuz TMA is designed to:

• Fly a crew of two to three people back and forth to the space station

• Deliver small payloads to the International Space Station (ISS) and return them to Earth

• Perform fly-around and docking operations

The Soyuz TMA spacecraft is designed to serve as:

• The ISS’s crew return vehicle, acting as a lifeboat in the unlikely event an emergency would require the crew to leave the Station. A new Soyuz capsule is normally delivered to the station by a Soyuz crew every six months, replacing an older Soyuz capsule at the ISS

• A crew rotation vehicle; one crew is delivered to the station on Soyuz TMA and one departs on a Soyuz TMA or space shuttle

• A cargo return vehicle, carrying up to 250 kg of cargo