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Crew of Soyuz-TMA nearly killed on re-entry
Lunar Networks ^ | 4/23/2008 | Associated Press

Posted on 04/23/2008 5:41:23 AM PDT by Prospero

The crew of the Soyuz capsule that landed in Kazakhstan hundreds of kilometers off-target after an unexpectedly severe descent was in serious danger, a Russian news agency reported Tuesday.

Interfax quoted an unidentified space official as saying that the capsule entered the atmosphere improperly, with the hatch-first, instead of with its heat shields leading the way. As a result, the hatch suffered significant damage.

The official said the TMA-11 capsule's antenna burned up during the descent, meaning the crew couldn't communicate properly with Russian Mission Control. Also damaged was part of the valve that equalizes pressure inside and outside the capsule.

Interfax said the official was involved in the investigation into Saturday's landing.

The Soyuz crew included South Korea's first astronaut, Yi So-yeon, U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson and Russian flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko.

(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events; Russia
KEYWORDS: iss; nasa; soyuz; whitson
More HERE

And HERE

And HERE

"Considering that this situation has repeated itself, it is obvious that the technological discipline in preparing space equipment for a flight is declining. There is no guarantee that the crew of a Soyuz spacecraft landing a half a year from now would not face the same difficulties." - Anonymous Russian space official

Dr. Whitson has just broken the American space endurance record, and almost ended her second six-months on orbit with a real bang.

Lunar Networks alerted me to this. the real story.

Lunar Networks is a comprehensive lunar exploration blog, specializing in Lunar Exploration, past, present and future, and more importantly, published by two long-time Freepers. They dug into the story with Ian O'Neill of Universe Today ( more of a "greenie" site, but fairly well read). The International Herald Tribune seems to be the first out with more details to a wider readership.

If anyone has any other links to new information, I know Lunar Networks would appreciate it.

The Department of Education spends six or seven times as much federal dollars as NASA. Do we really want Congress to force NASA to use this aging Russian system to give us a lift to the Space Station we paid for from 2010 to 2015?

1 posted on 04/23/2008 5:41:23 AM PDT by Prospero
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To: Prospero
And HERE
2 posted on 04/23/2008 5:49:26 AM PDT by A.A. Cunningham
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To: Prospero

The capsule landed 260 miles off course. Video showed the crew very wobbly.


3 posted on 04/23/2008 5:51:01 AM PDT by NautiNurse (Plants are people too)
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To: Prospero

No one ever said space exploration is totally safe. If it was we wouldn’t call them heroes for being astronauts.


4 posted on 04/23/2008 5:52:19 AM PDT by Centurion2000 (Party ahead of principles; eventually you'll be selling out anything to anyone for the right price.)
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To: Prospero

Who screwed up?

Like I’ve said many times, I don’t know why we waste our resources on manned flight anyway. It’s been done before, ad nauseum, and the missions accomplish little because they spend the entire mission trying to keep the crew safe.

What they should do is something completely different—build robots to build infrastructure on the moon... power plants, mines, buildings, rail lines, factories, foundries, communications networks, stockpiles of materials, etc., almost all constructed with local lunar resources, and then when they’ve got a large enough infrastructure, then and only then, send humans.

That would be a lot cheaper, and it would spur a robotics industry here on Earth.


5 posted on 04/23/2008 5:57:10 AM PDT by Brilliant
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To: Prospero

What little video NASA TV has shown of the return was delayed by 2 days, and showed Peggy Woodston visibly shaken. I though that it was because of her extended stay in orbit, but now we know better.

Too close for comfort.


6 posted on 04/23/2008 5:58:12 AM PDT by Bean Counter (Stout Hearts.....)
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To: Prospero
Investigators suspect that the ballistic re-entry was caused by an electrical short in the cable that connects the crew capsule's control panel with the Soyuz descent hardware. A short circuit in this cable can automatically trigger the ballistic re-entry mode and there is little the crew could have done to prevent it.
7 posted on 04/23/2008 6:16:52 AM PDT by rawhide
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To: NautiNurse
Video showed the crew very wobbly.

How long had they been in orbit? Everyone is very wobbly when they are back at 1G for the first time in months.

8 posted on 04/23/2008 6:19:55 AM PDT by KarlInOhio (Pray for Rattendaemmerung: the final mutually destructive battle between Obama and Hillary in Denver)
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To: Prospero
Old aviation saying: Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing

For manned space flights, Any landing that you can pull survivors out of the wreckage, regardless of their condition, is a good landing.

9 posted on 04/23/2008 6:20:14 AM PDT by Dixie Yooper (Ephesians 6:11)
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To: Prospero
There is something to be said for "heavy metal", given that the capsule survived.

That's not to say that the US couldn't improve upon the quality of the explosive bolts and timing issues in the Soyuz.

10 posted on 04/23/2008 6:25:37 AM PDT by Calvin Locke
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To: KarlInOhio
Answer to my own question: Whitson and Malenchenko were up just over six months, Yi So-yeon was up for ten days.
11 posted on 04/23/2008 6:26:07 AM PDT by KarlInOhio (Pray for Rattendaemmerung: the final mutually destructive battle between Obama and Hillary in Denver)
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To: Prospero

I doubt that the capsule came down 20 minutes late. If anything it came down early.


12 posted on 04/23/2008 6:42:43 AM PDT by JBR34
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To: Prospero
TMA-11

Tycho Magnetic Anomaly? When did we get up to 11? We haven't found TMA-1 yet.

13 posted on 04/23/2008 8:48:12 AM PDT by antiRepublicrat
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To: Dixie Yooper
For manned space flights, Any landing that you can pull survivors out of the wreckage, regardless of their condition, is a good landing.

You're one of those "glass half full" people, aren't you?

14 posted on 04/23/2008 4:07:14 PM PDT by Vroomfondel
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To: Vroomfondel
You're one of those "glass half full" people, aren't you?

That all depends on whether I'm pouring or drinking :)

15 posted on 04/24/2008 4:52:00 AM PDT by Dixie Yooper (Ephesians 6:11)
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