Soyuz TMA-11 lands 400km off course, Ballistic trajectory Options

[imipak]

Spaceflight Now are reporting that the service/propulsion module may have failed to separate properly.

Interesting... that's what happened to Soyuz 5. If the service module doesn't separate, the vehicle re-enters with the hatch facing forward and the heat shield backwards... I remembered reading this in Oberg's "Red Star in Orbit" and googling "soyuz hatch bulge smoke" found it pretty quickly. Probably best avoided if you've an over-active imagination; this image kept me awake more than a few nights, and has stayed with me for probably 20 years since reading it...

http://www.jamesoberg.com/062002flightjournalsoyuz5.html :

Volynov [...] heard and felt the explosions of the equipment module's overheated fuel tanks, and from his seat, he watched the overhead exit hatch bulge inwards under the head-on blast of air. The rubber seal on the hatch began to smoke. As flames seared his cabin walls, he watched as smoke from the singed insulation filled the descent module...

[Edit: the Spaceflight Now article James posted does actually mention S5 right at the end. ]

[nprev]

Man, what a harrowing story!!! Thanks for posting that link.

I'm amazed that Volynov ever slept again...talk about PTSD...

[ilbasso]

It looks like they had a pretty hefty bounce when they landed, too. Check out the impact crater and how far the capsule is lying away from it.


And look how charred - and cracked - the front end of the capsule is:


The full-res images are on the Expedition 16 page here.

[Pavel]

To make things more interesting, local farmers were burning grass in the area: http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.html?id=1284
I just hope everybody kept their teeth this time.

[ilbasso]

I think the Soyuz is at the lower right of this picture.

[Guest_Oersted_*]

New, excellent Jim Oberg write-up on the descent and landing:

http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/may08/6229

[ilbasso]

From the article cited,
"In addition, Yi So-yeon, the South Korean flight participant, reported in interviews in Seoul that the final ground impact was not vertical but sideways, causing many heavy baggage items to break free from restraints and hit her."

Looking at the dirt stuck to the rear portion of the descent module (where the heat shield is before being ejected) it does appear that the Soyuz impacted vertically and then bounced, landing on its side.

Glad I wasn't on that ride.

[nprev]

Lots of good (pardon the expression) stuff in that article; nobody does it like Oberg.

That attitude thruster burnout is particularly interesting; I wonder if anyone's ever tested their endurance for continuous firing? May suggest that the instrument-service module stayed attached for quite aways down.

[ilbasso]

Here's the close-up of the attitude thruster from the above photo. That's what you'd call "not your typical wear and tear."

[tasp]

Ghastly to contemplate how close this mission came to being eligible for discussion here in the main fora . . .

[climber]

It looks like they had a pretty hefty bounce when they landed, too.

...and Peggy Witson commented she was not even sure they've bounced!
192 days in space could fool your internal references, don't they ?

[ilbasso]

Yi So-yeon's comment that "many heavy baggage items [broke] free from restraints and hit her" on impact - "Be careful when opening the overhead bins, as contents may have shifted during the flight." I know, doesn't sound so funny if you're the one being hit!

[nprev]

192 days in space could fool your internal references, don't they ?

Yeah...that, or one hell of a sudden smack that leaves you wondering where you're at & trying to remember your own name for a few seconds...

This was beyond hairy.

[GravityWaves]

Glad I wasn't on that ride.

I think many of us would gladly take the trip into space regardless of the risks, from what I've understood about Soyuz over its years of service - although the design is old its a lot more robust than other craft. For example do you think Shuttle would have been able to survive such a trip without a very serious incident occurring. I hope they are also able to build the new CEV hardy enough to survive entries which are less than nominal