Soyuz TMA-15 Landing

[Zipi]

NasaTV coverage:

1 a.m. - Expedition 21 Soyuz TMA-15 Deorbit Burn and Landing Coverage (Deorbit burn scheduled at 1:25 a.m., Kazakhstan landing scheduled at 2:16 a.m.) - JSC (Public and Media Channels)

SDC article:

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/09 ... owded.html

NasaTV Direct Stream Links: (you may have to copy&paste these to your media player)

http://playlist.yahoo.com/makeplaylist.dll?id=1369080 (Quality: 150k)
http://playlist.yahoo.com/makeplaylist.dll?id=1368162 (Quality: 300k)
http://playlist.yahoo.com/makeplaylist.dll?id=1368570 (Quality: 500k)
http://playlist.yahoo.com/makeplaylist.dll?id=1368163 (Quality: 1200k)

 

[Zipi]

Soyuz TMA-15 has been landed. Unfortunately helicopters weren't able to take off due icy weather conditions.

 

[Zipi]

Hatch closure:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFMaGDyJDBI[/youtube]

Landing, part1:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGchhtWd8Ew[/youtube]

Landing, part2:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljDkwU4ff98[/youtube]

 

[MarkStanaway]

Great links Zipi!
Those guys sure looked like they have just spent six months in space!!
I think Orion planners should take a serious look at the Russian experience and plan for land based recoveries. Deploying a few Mil Helicopters and some ATV's would seem to be a lot more cost effective than having a whole Naval Task Force on standby to recover a crew. Also you do not have to contend with the problem of salt water contamination if you are planning on re-using your re-entry vehicle.
Does anyone have any information on what recovery method has been decided on for Orion?
Mark