Launch News Soyuz TMA-18 atop Soyuz-FG on April 2, 2010

[orb]

CBS NEWS: Realtime coverage of Soyuz TMA-18 entry and landing / Spaceflight Now: Soyuz to land with three space station residents tonight:

The main hatch to the Soyuz was closed at 6:35 p.m. EDT, setting the stage for undocking from the upper Poisk module at 10:02 p.m.

If all goes well, Skvortsov will oversee a four-minute 21-second de-orbit rocket firing starting at 12:31:17 a.m. Saturday, slowing the ship by about 258 mph and putting it on a trajectory for a landing near Arkalyk in northeastern Kazakhstan around 1:21:53 a.m. (11:21:53 a.m. local time).

Updated timeline for undocking/re-entry/landing events of Soyuz TMA-18 on 2010-09-25:

UTC time  |{colsp=4}

MET​

|EVENT

hh:mm:ss | DDD   | HH   | MM  | SS   | description

01:00:00|175|20|55|26|US to Russian attitude control handover

01:10:54|175|21|06|20|Orbital sunset

01:25:00|175|21|20|26|ISS maneuvers to undocking attitude

01:25:00|175|21|20|26|Sunrise at landing site

01:39:50|175|21|35|16|Orbital sunrise

01:55:02|175|21|50|28|Daily Orbit 15 Russian ground station AOS

01:58:00|175|21|53|26|ISS to free drift

01:59:00|175|21|54|26|Undocking command

02:02:00|175|21|57|26|Physical separation

02:05:00|175|22|00|26|Soyuz separation burn #1 (dV: 1.4 mph)

02:07:00|175|22|02|26|ISS maneuver to duty attitude

02:14:46|175|22|10|12|Daily Orbit 15 Russian ground station LOS

02:42:35|175|22|38|01|Orbital sunset

03:00:00|175|22|55|26|Russian to US attitude control handover

04:31:17|176|00|26|43|Soyuz deorbit burn start (dV: 257.7 mph)

04:35:38|176|00|31|04|Deorbit burn complete

04:51:07|176|00|46|33|Terminator rise

04:56:10|176|00|51|36|Module separation (alt 87 miles)

04:59:12|176|00|54|38|Atmospheric entry (alt 62.7 miles)

05:00:54|176|00|56|20|Entry guidance start (alt 50 miles)

05:05:46|176|01|01|12|Maximum G-load (alt 21.4 miles)

05:07:42|176|01|03|08|Command to open parachute (alt 6.6 miles)

05:21:53|176|01|17|19|Landing (Daily Orbit 1, 49°56' N, 66°57' E)

13:23:00|176|09|18|26|Sunset at Landing Site

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

TMA-18 has undocked.

Here's the landing site.

Spaceflight Now: "Soyuz capsule finally undocks from the space station".

SPACE.com: "Soyuz Spacecraft Successfully Undocks From Space Station on 2nd Try".

NASA TV Video: Trio's Farewell Proves Premature.​

NASA TV Video: Earthbound Trio Bids Farewell to ISS Crew.​

 

[N_Molson]

Reentry was nominal. Crew has returned Earth in excellent condition after 176 days in space :thumbup:

International Space Station trio safely returns to Earth

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Here's a great landing photo!

Hi-res version.

NASA TV Video: Soyuz Undocks from Space Station.​

NASA TV Video: Expedition 24 Crew Lands Safely on the Steppe of Kazakhstan.​

---------- Post added at 09:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:35 PM ----------

From ISS On-Orbit Status Report for 25/09/2010:

Yest posadka! (We have Landing!) Welcome back home, Tracy, Alex and Mikhail! After 177 days 1 hour 19 minutes in space (175 days 23 hours 58 minutes docked to ISS), Soyuz TMA-18/22S, carrying Exp. 24 crewmembers Alexander Skvortsov (Russia), Mikhail Kornienko (Russia) and Tracy Caldwell-Dyson (USA), landed successfully at 5:23 AM GMT this morning (local time: 11:23 AM) in central Kazakhstan near the city of Arkalyk (51.01°N, 66.57°E). The crew was in excellent condition. [TMA-18 (#228) undocked from MRM-2 last night at 2:02 AM GMT, after the crew had performed leak checks of the vestibule area between MRM-2 and the Soyuz, of their Sokol suits and of the hatch between the Descent Module (SA) and Orbital Module (BO). Three minutes after physical undocking, Soyuz performed a 15 second separation burn. The actual de-orbit burn of 4 minutes 17 seconds duration came at 4:31:17 AM GMT, resulting in a 115.2 m/s deceleration. Tri-module separation occurred at 4:56:10 AM GMT. 16 seconds after the separation command, software pitched the Instrumentation/Propulsion Module (PAO) in the rear to a specific angle (-78.5° from reference axis) which, if the PAO would have remained connected to the SA, would have resulted in enough heating on the connecting truss to melt it, thus ensuring separation. Atmospheric entry followed at 4:59:12 AM GMT and nominal parachute deployment at 5:07:42 AM GMT. Following initial observation by Russian SAR (Search And Recovery) personnel, the Soyuz vehicle landed at 5:23 AM GMT. The crew was flown by helicopter to Karaganda where Tracy boarded the waiting NASA Gulfstream-III airplane which today is bringing the crewmember back to Houston (with 2 refueling stops) - the second direct return for USOS crewmembers. Alexander & Mikhail meanwhile were flown on the GCTC (Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center) Tu-154 back to Chkalovsky airfield of the GCTC at Zvesdniy Gorodok (Star City).]

---------- Post added 26th Sep 2010 at 08:41 PM ---------- Previous post was 25th Sep 2010 at 09:54 PM ----------

NASA TV Video: Traditional Style Homecoming for Expedition 24 Crew.​

---------- Post added at 09:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:41 PM ----------

Roscosmos PAO: "Roscosmos Experts Have Found the Cause of Failed Soyuz Departure".

Roscosmos Head Anatoly Perminov explained the reason for failed Soyuz TMA-18 departure this Friday. According to him, this was a purely mechanical cause, which led to glitches in the software and false signals.
After the interrupted undocking sequence on Sept. 24, Soyuz TMA-18 descent capsule landed safely in Kazakhstan on the next day, Interfax informs.
Roscosmos Head said he appreciated the work done by all experts who supported the departure and landing operations.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Some TMA-18 undocking images from Doug Wheelock via Twitter.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

A photo of the TMA-18 crew after extraction from the SA.

Hi-res version.

---------- Post added 28th Sep 2010 at 01:30 AM ---------- Previous post was 27th Sep 2010 at 11:11 PM ----------

Soyuz crew admit to disappointment at delayed landing.

Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov admitted Monday to disappointment when he and his two crew had to return to the International Space Station after their Soyuz spaecraft failed to undock.

After 175 days in orbit, the unprecedented problems delayed for a day the return to Earth of Skvortsov, fellow-cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko and US astronaut Tracy Caldwell.

"Until the very last, we hoped to find a way out of the situation," mission commander Skvortsov told reporters after finally returning to the space flight centre at Star City near Moscow.

He admitted to frustration and fatigue when cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, remaining aboard the space station, saw the latches locking the Soyuz to the ISS refuse to open and later discovered a loose gear piece near the hatch.

"Of course I was disappointed... when Fyodor saw the technical malfunction from the outside and we understood 'that's it', we would have to go back to the station, start from scratch. It's not easy," he was quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency as saying.

The weary crew succeeded in a second undocking attempt 24 hours later, landing safely Saturday exactly on time and at the appointed location in the central Kazakh steppes.

"Our happiness was unbounded when the flight control centre congratulated us and we understood that we had succeeded," Skvortsov said.

"There was a great deal of stress before the landing, but it was positive and full of emotions."

The undocking jam -- the first in a decade of Soyuz flights -- had left the six ISS members frantically troubleshooting ahead of the new launch time over additional fears the capsule was not fully airlocked due to a computer bug.

But the rare setback in a space programme that usually strives for and achieves pinpoint accuracy also followed two failures docking unmanned Russian Progress shuttles to the space station in recent months.

The mishaps could raise doubts about the reliability of the Russian craft as NASA mothballs its shuttle fleet later this year, leaving the ISS entirely dependent on Russia for flights to the station.

 

[SiberianTiger]

http://www.rian.ru/science/20101007/283116251.html

13:07 07/10/2010

Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Oct 7 - RIA Novosti.

Spaceship Soyuz TMA-M will deliver to the ISS a new device that shall help to avert repeating of the abnormal situation that disrupted Soyuz TMA-18's undocking from the ISS in the end of September. This information was delivered to reporters on Tuesday by head of Roscosmos Anatoly Perminov.

"The devide will fly to the ISS. We'll do replacement and I think that the crew will completely get rid of problems in this system during their half-of-the-year mission", - he said.

В свою очередь, начальник управления пилотируемых программ Роскосмоса Алексей Краснов заявил, что новый прибор поможет избежать подобных ситуаций.

Head of Manned Flight Department in Roscosmos Alexey Krasnov assuured that the device is to help averting similar failures in future:

"This instrument helps countering the abnormality we had during TMA-18's undocking. We lost one of the two signals that confirm pressurization of the hatches." - he told.

Head of Cosmonaut Training Centre Sergey Krikalyov assured that the crew is ready for performing this task:

"The crewmembers are traned for its installation. Having that, we can be sure the system of hatch closing and hooks opening shall work normally"

Last September, the undocking of Soyuz TMA-18 went wrong because of appearance of false alarm of losing of pressure-sealing after closing hatches of the Soyuz and the station. Afterwards, all pressure-sealing probing confirmed successful hatch operation.

Flight Engineer Fyodor Yurchikhin who was aboard the station near the closed hatch, found a lost drive gear near the mechanism's cover. This detail got there because of mechanical influence from Cosmonauts.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Roscosmos PAO: "Soyuz TMA-18 Crew Received Roscosmos Awards".

Soyuz TMA-18/ISS 23-24 crew successfully completed the mission program, Roscosmos Stats Secretary- Deputy Head Vitaly Davydov stated today during ‘Welcome-Home’ ceremony for Alexander Skvortsov, Mikhail Kornienko, Tracy Caldwell Dyson at Star City.
Davydov also noted that the crew was very professional, despite the fact that it had been the first space mission for Skvortsov and Kornienko.
The crew spent more than 170 days in the station, received 6 space vehicles, performed more than 40 experiments, including the international ones, took part in integration of new Russian module Rassvet which enhanced the capabilities of the Russian segment.
Roscosmos Deputy Head congratulated the crew and presented special awards of the Federal Space Agency to Alexander Skvortsov, Mikhail Kornienko and Tracy Caldwell Dyson.

----------

Russia Today: "The returned ISS expedition goes through rehab".

 

[SiberianTiger]

I assume these medals are all the awards they were to get. It's quite a generic distingushing sign, anyone working well in space industry can have.

 

[Wishbone]

Just thinking about that makes me angry. They are risking life and limb (each long flight raises cancer risk), and then - this slap of reward.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Roscosmos PAO: "Russian Space Vehicle Departure Failure Isolated – MCC".

The problem which occurred during Soyuz TMA-18 departure from the International Space Station on Sept. 24 has been isolated, ISS RS Flight Director Vladimir Soloviev told Interfax. According to him, there is no issue with opening the hooks during departure sequence anymore due to special seal in the connector. The problem on Sept. 24 was caused by a broken gear which led to false signal on the detectors preventing the vehicle to undock.
However investigation of the failure has not completed yet to find out the cause of the damage.

 

[SiberianTiger]

FundServiceBank issued a statement on awarding Skvortsov and Kornienko a bonus money accounted on VISA Gold card with open credit line (http://www.fundservice.ru/info-251.html)

They don't dislose the bonus amount but state that it becomes an established practice to present such gift for every Russian space crew member returning from space, and also they continue to distinguish with gifts performers of good job at service in Space Force and among personnel of both Northern and Southern cosmodromes.