Soyuz TMA-11 Landing

[tblaxland]

The last Ballistic descent was, as I already said, caused by bad wiring. Looks like this was caused by the same thing.

Some would say it was other causes:

Later, Perminov was asked about the presence of two women on the Soyuz, and referred to a naval superstition that having women aboard a ship was bad luck.


"You know in Russia, there are certain bad omens about this sort of thing, but thank God that everything worked out successfully,'' he said. "Of course in the future, we will work somehow to ensure that the number of women will not surpass'' the number of men.


Challenged by a reporter, Perminov responded: "This isn't discrimination. I'm just saying that when a majority (of the crew) is female, sometimes certain kinds of unsanctioned behaviour or something else occurs, that's what I'm talking about.''

Source:http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNe...419/soyuz_landing_080419/20080419?hub=SciTech

 

[Urwumpe]

I thought the worst case was if you get too much lift, and you start to gain altitude while slowing down. When you hit the second time, the angle is too steep for the shield.

That is also possible, but less severe from my experience - you lost already a lot of speed by drag when the second reentry comes. Also, when the guidance still attempts to fly at full lift, the g-loads will be lower. The problem will be more that one skip alone is enough to bring the spacecraft almost 90° geocentric distance from it's intended landing site in the worst case.

A too shallow reentry is BTW also deadly for the Soyuz spacecraft. It means that the heat shield is not working at optimal temperatures, to reject as much energy as possible per mass molten away from it.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Some would say it was other causes:
Source:http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNe...419/soyuz_landing_080419/20080419?hub=SciTech

Who is guilty in that they spent too little Saint Water during a pre-flight exorcism of the vehicle? :dry:

 

[Urwumpe]

Who is guilty in that they spent too little Saint Water during a pre-flight exorcism of the vehicle? :dry:

They did not say a prayer to Blake before establishing the landing program. :rofl:

 

[SiberianTiger]

A picture of Soyuz TMA-11 capsule

Here's a pic of the capsule which suffered a ballistic reentry:

Hi-res version is available here

 

[SiberianTiger]

Pictures of the TMA-11 crew's retrieval

hi-res

hi-res

hi-res

hi-res

 

[Urwumpe]

Does not look worse than after a normal reentry.

But the landing rockets seem to have ignited the grass a tiny bit. Good that the astronauts had been incapable of leaving the capsule anyway.

 

[SiberianTiger]

But the landing rockets seem to have ignited the grass a tiny bit. Good that the astronauts had been incapable of leaving the capsule anyway.

Grass is set on fire by the cushioning engines' jets virtually every time a Soyuz lands at a dry season (and provided those engines actually actuate, of course).

On the contrary, it is reported that Yury and Peggy have almost evacuated from the capsule by the moment the S&R arrived.

 

[Urwumpe]

I know that igniting the grass is not unusual, but the scale of the scorched land this time is huge. How long did they have to wait until the ground crews arrived?

 

[SiberianTiger]

I know that igniting the grass is not unusual, but the scale of the scorched land this time is huge. How long did they have to wait until the ground crews arrived?

About an hour. Steppe fires can be very violent, especially in windy conditions. It's good that smoke was evidently carried away from the capsule by the wind.

 

[Urwumpe]

Yeah, would not have been pleasant. I guess usually, the ground crews extinguish the grass fires after reaching the capsule?

 

[SiberianTiger]

Yeah, would not have been pleasant. I guess usually, the ground crews extinguish the grass fires after reaching the capsule?

Yes, they do. You can see how if you manage to download a footage by this link: http://stream.ifolder.ru/6247579

Sadly can't do the same while in the office.

 

[DaveS]

Jim Oberg's piece on the landing: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24243569/

 

[Andy44]

They did not say a prayer to Blake before establishing the landing program. :rofl:

Was that a BattleTech reference? :speakcool:

 

[tblaxland]

@SiberianTiger, thanks for the great pictures!

 

[simonpro]

Jim Oberg's piece on the landing: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24243569/

I'm just laughing at the bit at the bottom: "James Oberg spent 22 years as....orbital designer"

What's an orbital designer? Someone who designs orbits? Someone who designs things whilst in orbit?
I think they meant "mission planning", but it made me grin early on a tuesday morning.:speakcool:

 

[James.Denholm]

The media love to use the term "so called" because it makes things look suspicious in the eyes of the public. Especially when they are things media heads know nothing about. If they don't know about it, it must be BAD. Cue calls to ban gravity.

So-called gravity.

I'm fairly sure that the BBC space correspondant thinks that the Soyuz capsule just contains a number of buttons marked "Big rocket go now", "Big rocket stop now" and, apparently, "Nice controlled reentry" (colored pink, probably) plus "Horrific uncontrolled death plunge" (with a skull and crossbones).
Alan Sugar is currently employed by the BBC, I suggest we unleash him upon their unfortunate space correspondant.

It dosen't?

Some would say it was other causes:
Source:http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNe...419/soyuz_landing_080419/20080419?hub=SciTech

That's so sexist!

I'm just laughing at the bit at the bottom: "James Oberg spent 22 years as....orbital designer"

What's an orbital designer? Someone who designs orbits? Someone who designs things whilst in orbit?
I think they meant "mission planning", but it made me grin early on a tuesday morning.:speakcool:

Hopefully he'll think more about agreeing with Russia's survival gun policy... wasn't it him who shed the light on that?

 

[simonpro]

Yes, it was him.

I think that he is extremely unhappy with the US decision to rely on Soyuz in the Shuttle-Orion (or whatever it's called) gap. I think he wants the US to retain a manned spaceflight capability.

The best way to do that is to convince the public that Soyuz is a badly made piece of junk full of gun-toting crazy drunk Russians.

 

[Urwumpe]

The best way to do that is to convince the public that Soyuz is a badly made piece of junk full of gun-toting crazy drunk Russians.

At least he does not mention the bears on the launch complex. :rofl:

 

[Andy44]

Yes, it was him.

I think that he is extremely unhappy with the US decision to rely on Soyuz in the Shuttle-Orion (or whatever it's called) gap. I think he wants the US to retain a manned spaceflight capability.

The best way to do that is to convince the public that Soyuz is a badly made piece of junk full of gun-toting crazy drunk Russians.

Actually, the best way to do that would be to obtain a license to let Boeing or soem other US company build Soyuz vehicles and launchers in the US...but that would save too much money and teach American companies a new perspective on spacecraft design, plus it doesn't wave the flag enough, so forget it.

And Oberg's flap about a survival shotgun shows just how irrational he is to begin with. Next thing you know he'll start crying because there might be a flare gun and a pocketknife, too.