Soyuz TMA-12 was a crewed Russian spacecraft that was part of the Soyuz program, operated by Roscosmos. It was launched on April 8, 2008, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan using a Soyuz-FG launch vehicle. The spacecraft transported three crew members to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of Expedition 17: Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko of Roscosmos, and spaceflight participant Yi So-yeon of South Korea, who joined for a short-duration mission.
Soyuz TMA-12 served as the lifeboat and transport vehicle for the visiting and resident crew during its docked period at the ISS. It remained docked to the station for approximately six months before returning to Earth on October 24, 2008. The deorbit and landing occurred in Kazakhstan, marking the conclusion of Expedition 17.
This mission was notable for carrying the first South Korean astronaut to space and for being the first time a second-generation cosmonaut (Sergei Volkov, son of cosmonaut Aleksandr Volkov) flew in space.
All mission details, including launch, docking, undocking, and landing times, are documented by Roscosmos and NASA sources.