Soyuz TMA-6 is away!

CalliArcale · Apr 15, 2005

Last night, I had the pleasure of watching the early morning liftoff of Soyuz TMA-6 (carrying the ISS Expedition 11 crew and guest cosmonaut Roberto Vittori, representing both Italy and ESA) while eating dinner. It was a lot of fun, although I confess to a little disappointment that they ran informative clips about the Expedition 10 and 11 crews while the gantries were being retracted. Although I found the clips fascinating, I kinda wanted to see the gantries fold back. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> Oh well; they had a good view of the umbillical towers retracting right before ignition. It was particularly neat to spot the four boosters tumbling away from the vehicle, sparkling in the sunlight. The plume was particularly visible on this launch, presumably because of the lighting conditions, and looked spectacular. My husband noted particularly the broad fan-shape produced by the second stage. Quick question -- I couldn't tell, but was the "accelerometer" for this Soyuz launch a stuffed camel? John Philips had his birthday yesterday, and the Kazakhs gave him a stuffed camel as a birthday present. I couldn't quite tell, but it kind of looked like the camel was dangling from a bungee in the Soyuz descent module. (For those who've never watched coverage of a Soyuz launch, they traditionally fasten some object of personal significance to a bungee tied onto the instrument panel. Sort of like fuzzy dice on the rearview mirror, only more functional, as they can glance at it to get an idea of how fast they are accelerating by how far the bungee is stretching.) In any case, a wonderful launch! Soyuz TMA-6 will dock at the ISS tomorrow and exchange crew responsibilities. Vittori will move his seatliner into Soyuz TMA-5, and after a week, he will return to Earth with the Expedition 10 crew (Leroy Chiao and Salizhan Sharipov). Expedition commander Sergei Krikalev now holds the Russian record for total number of spaceflights (six). <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff." -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink" </div>

padrat · Apr 15, 2005

Nice to see that not all astronauts are afraid to ride ELVs. -Pad Rat-

georgeniebling · Apr 15, 2005

I don't think it is fear ... it's been what nearly 30 years (ASTP) since the US launched a manned ELV. The folk who are "onboard" as astronauts now were expecting Shuttle ... I can't think of many (if any) that would say "No!" to an opportunity to go on-orbit. Frankly ... I'm hoping we'll return to an ELV-based manned system.

padrat · Apr 15, 2005

I'm referring to some in the Astronaut Office who have spoken against the idea of putting crewed spacecraft on the EELVs - even after those boosters have undergone reliability improvements. -Pad Rat-

najab · Apr 16, 2005

It's funny you know, I'd ride a single-SRB CEV, but I don't know if I'd ride an EELV CEV. Maybe after the reliability improvements you talk about I'd change my mind. But I'd feel safer on the SRB just because I know it was designed to launch people.I know that every engineer who worked on the design was thinking "If I screw up, people are going to die." With an EELV they were thinking "If I screw up...oh, it's time for lunch!"

arobie · Apr 16, 2005

Right now, I'm watching the docking. The soyuz is about 120 meters away, and enclosing. I'm watching the ISS get bigger.<img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" />

arobie · Apr 16, 2005

75 meters.

arobie · Apr 16, 2005

Docking confirmed. Capture Confirmed.

nacnud · Apr 16, 2005

Do the twist!

arobie · Apr 16, 2005

Very smooth docking while flying over Russia. Very cool!

arobie · Apr 16, 2005

Were you watching the video? Yeah...they said docking confirmed, then it showed the video from the Soyuz and it was slightly rolling. Guess docking was not quite complete then. Doesn't sound like it was a problem. They keep saying "Very Smooth Docking", and it looked so to me.

nacnud · Apr 16, 2005

Yes, just had time to switch on the video when they were about 20m apart. Cool timing as well, nice of them to wait for my break before docking <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> Oh well back to work I suppose...

scottb50 · Apr 17, 2005

Personally, I would climb into any of them without reservation. S*** happens. I also don't really understand the seeming consensus that SRB's are inherently dangerous because they can't be shutdown until they burn out, which isn't correct anyway, they can be, or can be made to. The main problem is: It takes a lot of power to get to orbit no matter how you do it, whether an SRB is less safe than the multiple, complex and highly stressed pumps and the multitude of other paraphenalia needed for a liquid engine is another question. Combine the two and it lowers the risk. The Russian thinking of multiple liquid engines allows for multiple failures and when you look at it liquid engines and propellant weigh a lot less than SRB's. But, Soyus has to use strap-ons the same way Delta does and they are nothing less than SRB's on a smaller scale. A failure of a strap-on could be equally or more catastrophic as Challenger. Even though a burn through of the SRB caused the Challenger accident the SRB clearly kept operating and it's performance was not overly different than the SRB that didn't fail, evidenced by both continuing, after the fireball of the ET, until they burned out. If the failure had occured in a location that didn't impinge on the ET the results would have been different, less energy would have resulted in a lower orbit, or maybe an abort to orbit or to Africa. In my opinion there is no better way to get to orbit than a combined liquid, solid powered vehicle. An SRB first stage is one thing, but that doesn't get you to orbit without a second stage. A solid second stage doesn't make sense either, a solid second stage would be rather massive and would be more difficult to configure for specific launch destinations, launch windows would be seconds. Then you would need a third stage to refine an orbit and maneuvering capabilities to dock to a specific Platform. Solids are pretty specific, they burn for a set time <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

CalliArcale · Apr 18, 2005

<blockquote>In reply to:<hr />Yeah...they said docking confirmed, then it showed the video from the Soyuz and it was slightly rolling. Guess docking was not quite complete then. Doesn't sound like it was a problem. They keep saying "Very Smooth Docking", and it looked so to me.<hr /></blockquote> I wonder if there was a slight lag in the video? The Earth-based announcer may have announced "docking complete" when it was expected (and most likely when it actually did happen) even if the video hadn't caught up yet. Just a guess. Alternately, what you may have seen was a little motion after soft-capture. The vehicles can still move a bit around the docking collar before they tighten the hooks to acheive a hard mate. They usually let them free drift for a little while after docking to let any residual motion damp out. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff." -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink" </div>

nacnud · Apr 18, 2005

The vehicle was rolling through 20-30 degrees after soft dock. I think the cause was the on aproach the craft was trying to correct a 5 degree roll. Or thats what I thought I saw <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

rubicondsrv · Apr 18, 2005

arent the soyuz strapons liquid? if so they are not the same as an srb and soyuz has an launch escape system <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

Johnny_Canuck · Apr 18, 2005

Kinda surprised that a signifigant milestone went by seemingly unnoticed with the launch of the Russian rocket into space. This was the 100th manned space flight from the Russian/Soviets. Perhaps the Russians don't count Soyuz 18-1, the 1975 flight where a rocket stage malfuntion caused an abort and ranks as the sole sub-orbital space flight by the Russians/Soviets.

CalliArcale · Apr 19, 2005

Cool! I did not know that! Thank you very much for enlightening us all, as that makes the flight even more historic. So is that the 100th flight including Soyuz 18-1, or not including it? I'm easily confused. <img src="/images/icons/tongue.gif" /> Soyuz 18-1 is an interesting story. The rocket failed during the second stage, so the vehicle was going quite fast and the escape tower was no longer an option. (There is a common but mistaken belief that the escape tower provides abort capability throughout the boost phase, but this is not actually true. It's mainly for pad aborts, actually, and also provides abort capability during the very earliest stages of the boost. The tower is jettisoned with the shroud around Soyuz.) The vehicle separated from the second stage, which then exploded, and then underwent an extreme reentry. The crew is said to have experienced over 20 gees! They survived. But they had to fight all the way to the Kremlin to get recognition and cosmonaut pay for their flight. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff." -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink" </div>

Johnny_Canuck · Apr 19, 2005

"So is that the 100th flight including Soyuz 18-1, or not including it? I'm easily confused." It's the 100th INCLUDING Soyuz 18-1. So the next Soyuz launch would be the 100th Russian/Soviet orbital flight...

SpaceKiwi · Apr 22, 2005

Yes NASA TV are giving this event great coverage, including the hatch closing and undocking. Plus, with it being ANZAC Day here on Monday, I will get time off to watch the landing live. Nice work Expedition 10 and TMA-5. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Who is this superhero? Henry, the mild-mannered janitor ... could be!-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Bring Back The Black! </div>

najab · Apr 22, 2005

Well the Soyuz is rated for a water landing, so I'd have to assume the radar altimeter can handle it.

SpaceKiwi · Apr 22, 2005

The Houston Chronicle asked Sharipov about the potential water landing and he seemed entirely unconcerned. Made a comment about the capsule floating IIRC. I'm sure they've had a few wet landings to contend with over the years. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Who is this superhero? Henry, the mild-mannered janitor ... could be!-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Bring Back The Black! </div>

SpaceKiwi · Apr 24, 2005

Hatch closing on TMA-5 to occur in a few minutes. Looks like they are hoping for video coverage of that. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Who is this superhero? Henry, the mild-mannered janitor ... could be!-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Bring Back The Black! </div>

SpaceKiwi · Apr 24, 2005

Hatches closed, nice that they were able to acquire a video downlink for the event. I'm a little surprised that Exp 10/Vittori didn't don their suits prior to entering the Soyuz. It can't be easy to get them on in the cramped conditions of TMA-5, 'Tien Shan'. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Who is this superhero? Henry, the mild-mannered janitor ... could be!-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Bring Back The Black! </div>

najab · Apr 24, 2005

I assume that the suits are kept in the Soyuz at all times, in case it has to be used as an emergency return vehicle. Imagine if they took them out of the Soyuz to put them on, there was a MMOD hit and they ran back into the Soyuz, only to find that they left part of the suit in the Station. <img src="/images/icons/shocked.gif" />

Soyuz TMA-6 is away!

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