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Old 20-April-2008, 04:34 PM
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Default Whitson comes back home, breaks record
From NASA.gov.
I'd say, "She is cool", but that sounds like an understatement.
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Old 20-April-2008, 05:46 PM
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My teletext indicated a missed landing site
by 250 Kms. Wonder why off nominal. Retrofire
wrong angle? too long? too short? Still a very
safe system apparently.
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Old 20-April-2008, 06:04 PM
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I'm glad they're okay. A little shaken, but okay.
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Old 21-April-2008, 03:46 AM
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Any landing you can walk away from...
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Old 21-April-2008, 12:51 PM
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... is a good landing.
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Old 22-April-2008, 10:49 AM
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lucky she didn't break something else...ouch
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Old 26-April-2008, 06:47 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by peteshimmon View Post
My teletext indicated a missed landing site
by 250 Kms. Wonder why off nominal. Retrofire
wrong angle? too long? too short? Still a very
safe system apparently.
In order to get a steeper angle, the retrofire could have either been pointed slightly further away from Earth (the nose of the capsule pointed more towards Earth), or it could have been for too long of a time.

What I'd be interested in knowing is whether or not the length of firing is pre-set (as in a solid fuel motor) or if it can be set in flight, either on board, via ground station, or both.
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Old 27-April-2008, 01:13 AM
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Originally Posted by mugaliens View Post
What I'd be interested in knowing is whether or not the length of firing is pre-set (as in a solid fuel motor) or if it can be set in flight, either on board, via ground station, or both.
The de-orbit burn is not solid.

NASA - Russian Soyuz TMA Spacecraft Details

Quote:
The propulsion compartment contains the system that is used to perform any maneuvers while in orbit, including rendezvous and docking with the Space Station and the deorbit burns necessary to return to Earth. The propellants are nitrogen tetroxide and unsymmetric-dimethylhydrazine. The main propulsion system and the smaller reaction control system, used for attitude changes while in space, share the same propellant tanks.
I don't know who can control the burn length. Since it's the main engine and is used in various parts of the mission, it performs burns of various durations. I'd expect the deorbit burn length to be modifiable.

A Wikipedia narrative about problems during the TM5 mission (to Mir) makes it sound pretty flexible, in this battle of erroneous navigation computer and manual control:

Quote:
They jettisoned the orbital module and made ready for deorbit burn to return to Earth. However, unbeknownst to the cosmonauts or the Mission Control Center in Korolev (TsUP), the guidance computer was using the docking software of the Bulgarian Mir mission in June. The deorbit burn did not occur at the appointed time because the infrared horizon sensor could not confirm the proper attitude. Seven minutes after the scheduled time, the sensor determined that the correct attitude had been achieved. The main engine fired, but Lyakhov shut it down after 3 seconds. A second firing 3 hours later lasted only 6 seconds. Lyakhov immediately attempted to manually deorbit the craft, but the computer shut down the engine after 60 seconds.
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Old 09-May-2008, 01:35 PM
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Exclamation Soyuz's Troubled Reentry
Is there no thread about this yet? I'm surprised. James Oberg has written an article about it. Here's a quote:

Quote:
7 May 2008—What should have been a routine return from the International Space Station (ISS) on 19 April 2008 quickly turned into a heart-stopping drama for ground controllers and the three astronauts aboard a Soyuz TMA-11.
I found a link to Oberg's article in the BA's blog. There were also a couple of UT stories by Fraser:

Soyuz Crew Safe After a Violent Re-entry and Landing 400km Off-target
New Facts Emerge from Soyuz Emergency Landing
Soyuz Capsule Hatch Nearly Burned Up and Crew's Lives Were on a "Razor's Edge"
Soyuz Hard Landing: The Facts
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Old 09-May-2008, 08:32 PM
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I started this one.
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Old 09-May-2008, 09:48 PM
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Threads merged.
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Old 09-May-2008, 10:37 PM
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Originally Posted by Disinfo Agent View Post
Is there no thread about this yet? I'm surprised. James Oberg has written an article about it.
Typical of Oberg these days. sadly. Some interesting facts, but what comes through is an almost obessive anti-Russian tone and a refusal to admit when he is wrong (he is still pushing his idisyncratic ideas on Mars 96). Does not bode well for the article as a whole.

Jon
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Old 13-May-2008, 09:34 PM
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The propulsion compartment contains the system that is used to perform any maneuvers while in orbit, including rendezvous and docking with the Space Station and the deorbit burns necessary to return to Earth. The propellants are nitrogen tetroxide and unsymmetric-dimethylhydrazine. The main propulsion system and the smaller reaction control system, used for attitude changes while in space, share the same propellant tanks.
Then someone goofed.
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Old 16-May-2008, 03:16 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JonClarke View Post
Typical of Oberg these days. sadly. Some interesting facts, but what comes through is an almost obessive anti-Russian tone and a refusal to admit when he is wrong (he is still pushing his idisyncratic ideas on Mars 96). Does not bode well for the article as a whole.

Jon
I don't get that sense from this article at all... In fact, he points out several times that the Russians did a good job of making a robust, survivable craft... I don't see anything for him to admit being wrong about. Maybe in other articles he is that way, but I don't see it here.

CJSF
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Old 22-May-2008, 09:06 PM
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ABC News: Flawed Soyuz Landing Caused by Failed Separation of Module, Russian Official Says

Quote:
Alexei Krasnov, who heads Russia's manned space program, said after the Soyuz's separation from the space station, the equipment bay module was supposed to detach, allowing the capsule to enter the atmosphere and descend to Earth smoothly.
That did not happen, he said, and the Soyuz went into a "ballistic" descent.
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