Soyuz TMA-13 launch. The Soyuz TMA-13 mission was launched on a Soyuz-FG rocket on 12 October 2008 from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It carried a crew of three to the International Space Station (ISS): Commander Michael Fincke, Flight Engineer Yury V. Lonchakov and Spaceflight Participant Richard Garriott (a space tourist). Garriott returned to Earth 12 days later with two members of the Expedition 17 crew. Fincke and Lonchakov (part of the Expedition 18 crew) spent six months on the ISS, returning to Earth on 8 April 2009 in the Soyuz TMA-13 capsule seen on top of this rocket.