Soyuz lands on target
Posted: Fri, Oct 24, 2008, 8:25 AM ET (1225 GMT)
A Soyuz spacecraft carrying two Russian cosmonauts and an American commercial passenger landed safely in Kazakhstan early Friday, avoiding reentry problems that plagued two previous missions. The Soyuz TMA-12 capsule landed on target northeast of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, at 11:37 pm EDT Thursday (0337 GMT Friday). The three men in the capsule, Russian cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononeko and American space tourist Richard Garriott, were all reported to be in good health after landing. Officials said the Soyuz had a normal reentry profile, and the landing was in the targeted zone. Two previous Soyuz spacecraft had suffered ballistic reentries, generating higher g-loads for the crews and causing the capsules to land several hundred kilometers off-target. That problem was linked to a problem with an explosive bolt that prevented the reentry capsule from cleanly separating from its propulsion module. The problem has been fixed on later Soyuz flights, and Volkov and Kononeko performed a spacewalk in July to remove the problematic bolt from their spacecraft.
A Soyuz spacecraft carrying two Russian cosmonauts and an American commercial passenger landed safely in Kazakhstan early Friday, avoiding reentry problems that plagued two previous missions. The Soyuz TMA-12 capsule landed on target northeast of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, at 11:37 pm EDT Thursday (0337 GMT Friday). The three men in the capsule, Russian cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononeko and American space tourist Richard Garriott, were all reported to be in good health after landing. Officials said the Soyuz had a normal reentry profile, and the landing was in the targeted zone. Two previous Soyuz spacecraft had suffered ballistic reentries, generating higher g-loads for the crews and causing the capsules to land several hundred kilometers off-target. That problem was linked to a problem with an explosive bolt that prevented the reentry capsule from cleanly separating from its propulsion module. The problem has been fixed on later Soyuz flights, and Volkov and Kononeko performed a spacewalk in July to remove the problematic bolt from their spacecraft.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Tuesday, October 27
Australia has to pay millions to fly an astronaut to space. What do we stand to gain?
The Conversation — 6:24 am ET (1024 GMT) Moon Explore sprinter missions
ESA — 6:24 am ET (1024 GMT) Two additional Galileo Second Generation satellites awarded to Thales Alenia Space
Thales Alenia Space — 6:24 am ET (1024 GMT) Airbus awarded contract for two additional Galileo satellites
Airbus Group — 6:23 am ET (1023 GMT) ESA procures four new Galileo Second Generation satellites
ESA — 6:23 am ET (1023 GMT) |
