Soyuz TMA-11 Landing

[Urwumpe]

2.5 tons is about 24.5 kilonewtons, and that much force on 0.250 m^2 area gives you 98 kPa right there--but that would be at rest. When the capsule smacks into the ground at about 10 m/s, the force would be greater.

The softlanding rockets fired, so the landing was at about 3 m/s, with the heat shield side first.

 

[tblaxland]

Here is a new article on the landing, including the transcript of an interview with Peggy Whitson:

http://spaceflightnow.com/station/exp16/080502peggywhitson.html

 

[SiberianTiger]

New TMA-11 crew retrieval photos revealed (#1)

The burning steppe as seen from above. Reports were correct about sheepherders burning the grass?

The capsule got surrounded by a no-cross line.

Peggy Whitson after extraction from the capsule

Yuri Malenchenko talking to S&R people

An American medic taking care about Peggy

Underside of the capsule

Yuri is being carried to a helicopter

Yi Soyeon on the couch inside the helicopter

The capsule views

Kazakh eyewitnesses / helpers

 

[SiberianTiger]

New TMA-11 crew retrieval photos revealed (#2)

Fire is getting extinguished

Inside the capsule

A soil at the spot the capsule hit the ground first

Empty spacesuits

The crew's arrival at Kostanay

Yi Soyeon subscribes the chopper's interior in Russian

The welcoming ceremony in Kostanay

Transporting the capsule

 

[tblaxland]

Thanks for the awesome photos!

 

[Belisarius]

Interesting that Peggy is apparently absent from the ceremony

 

[Urwumpe]

Interesting that Peggy is apparently absent from the ceremony

Well, just look at the photos of Peggy right after landing...

The last time, I looked pale like that, was the day after my confirmation (affirmation of baptism, for those US infidels).

I don't know how her own description of the moments sounds, but I would say, she also had problems laying on the ground without holding it tight.

 

[Belisarius]

She sure didn't look good. I hope she has recovered OK

 

[SiberianTiger]

Interesting that Peggy is apparently absent from the ceremony

I think that's because her medics prohibited her participation in any ceremonies... The rest of the comments are correct. She had just set a national record for the personal duration of a space mission, after all.

 

[dougkeenan]

The expression on Peggy's face says it all. So does Yuri's - I swear he looks like he could swim laps. He must be in marvelous shape.

Great photos! Thanks for sharing them.

 

[Suzy]

There's a whole lot of those photos up at the Novosti Kosmonavtiki gallery now.

 

[SiberianTiger]

The cause of TMA-11's ballistic reentry determined

According to a source from RKK Energia, the failure of the explosive bolt which lead to the control system failing over to the ballistic reentry mode during the Soyuz TMA-11's descent was the mix of factors, primary of which was the change in how long the ISS spends in different attitude modes after the recent growth of the American Segment. This lead to extended exposure of the failed explosive bolt to sunlights and resulted in its properties' deterioration. This opinion is backed up by research carried out in the RAS and Keldysh Science Centre.

To prevent similar failures in future, a number of actions have been taken: explosive bolts are replaced by a modified version since the TMA-13, cable replacement, making additional connection between thermal insulation and the hull, and also modification of the Argon-16's computer software allowing the PAO-SA (propulsion + descent) module stack to tilt at 70 degrees, exposing the problem bolt's side towards the plasma flow to provide for earliest heating-triggered separation in case the nominal SA/PAO separation fails.

It's needless to mention the removal of the explosive bolt performed by Oleg Kononenko and Sergey Volkov during an EVA on the Soyuz TMA-12 which is still in orbit.

All the materials covering the incident investigation have been presented to the international partners.

 

[Urwumpe]

Small change, big impact...

 

[SiberianTiger]

This article contains the findings of the State Commission on the latest Soyuz TMA ballistic reentries and the study of modifications done to the TMA design to rule out the possibility of their happening again (since TMA-13).

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2009...ndings-backed-by-nominal-soyuz-tma-13-return/