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Manned Soyuz Missions from Kourou -- Top problems?



 
 
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  #11  
Old January 3rd 05, 11:42 PM
Reed Snellenberger
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Jochem Huhmann wrote:
Reed Snellenberger writes:


Has *any* Soyuz-class capsule been recovered from water? I can't remember
ever hearing about it being tested that way, although I'm sure it has, but
it looks a bit top-heavy to be a comfortable boat (as opposed to Gemini &
Apollo, which seemed fairly stable).



AFAIK a water landing is a part of standard crew training. A soyuz will
sink within 40 seconds when the hatch starts to draw water (and this
seems to happen fairly easy), so this is not exactly a safe procedure.

Here is an article and a few photos of Foale on Black Sea training:
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/...e-blacksea.htm


Jochem

Thanks for the link, Jochem... that's exactly what I was interested in
-- and no, it doesn't sound like the Soyuz is as good a boat as either
Gemini or Apollo. I'm specifically thinking back to this picture of the
astronauts (Stafford & Cernan) casually leaning against the open hatch
openings during their recovery -- of course, they probably had the
horsecollar on by then...

http://grin.hq.nasa.gov/IMAGES/SMALL...000-001416.jpg

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Reed Snellenberger
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  #12  
Old January 6th 05, 10:34 PM
triples
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This is from Arianespace:

http://www.arianespace.com/site/news...feature_3_5_04.
html
Russia's Soyuz vehicle - the world's most frequently used
launcher - is a well-proven cargo option for servicing of
the International Space Station. It currently is launched
from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome, where commercial Soyuz
flights are performed through a European/Russian joint
venture that includes Arianespace.

Soyuz will begin operations from the Guiana Space Center
in 2006 under Arianespace responsibility, providing
additional mission flexibility and performance for this
proven vehicle. While the current plan for Soyuz in French
Guiana does not include human space flight, this remains a
possibility as the Russian launcher is man-rated and
routinely launches crews to the International Space
Station.

Jacques :-)


Launching from Kourou and rendezvousing with the Station
requires making a HUGE plane change and (for manned
spacecraft) reduce potential cargo to probably one person
carrying a postage stamp.

Currently, the Europeans plan to launch an Apollo-capsule
sized unmanned vehicle from Kourou to Station but that has a
much more reasonable requirement for support of cargo. The
Jules Verne (first vehicle of the series) will take four
days to rendezvous (last timeline I saw). The launch will be
on an Ariane 5 if I recall correctly.

Now, if we had left the Station at a 28 degree inclination
...

"Jim Oberg" schreef in
bericht ...
As I recall, the primary challenges for launching a
human Soyuz spacecraft aboard a Soyuz booster from the

facilities at Kourou are twofold: downrange
communications and launch abort and recovery. Does
anyone recall any formal discussions of these, or other,
issues by Russian space officials? Thanks!



Charles Phillips
"Drink Upstream Of The Herd, Get A Macintosh"
note feeble anti-spam attempt on Reply-To address
  #13  
Old January 6th 05, 11:42 PM
Jim Oberg
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"triples" wrote in
Launching from Kourou and rendezvousing with the Station
requires making a HUGE plane change and (for manned
spacecraft) reduce potential cargo to probably one person
carrying a postage stamp.


There is NO plane change, as long as you select the proper launch azimuth.

There is some loss of performance, but it's in the 2-5% range, more than
balanced by the upgraded Soyuz-2 vehicle.



  #14  
Old January 6th 05, 11:47 PM
hop
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triples wrote:
Launching from Kourou and rendezvousing with the Station
requires making a HUGE plane change and (for manned
spacecraft) reduce potential cargo to probably one person
carrying a postage stamp.

Huh? That isn't true at all. You only need a plane change if your
launch site doesn't lie under the orbit. For ISS, if your launch site
is anywhere from +/-51 Lat, you don't need one (barring range
constrants, like dropping spent stages on populated areas). A Soyuz
from Kourou won't have any less payload to ISS than one from Baikonur.

Nor does manned vs. unmanned matter at all in this regard. I suspect
the choice of 4 (vs. the typical 2-3 for Soyuz and Progress) days for
ATV rendezvous has more to do with allowing extra checkout time on the
first flight. It certainly isn't because engine burns require the extra
time! Even if 4 days was a requirement (which it isn't), that isn't
outside the limits of Soyuz free flight.

  #15  
Old January 7th 05, 09:25 PM
Derek Lyons
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"Jim Oberg" wrote:

"triples" wrote in
Launching from Kourou and rendezvousing with the Station
requires making a HUGE plane change and (for manned
spacecraft) reduce potential cargo to probably one person
carrying a postage stamp.


There is NO plane change, as long as you select the proper launch azimuth.


That assumes said azimuth is available from the launch site.

In theory we could launch from the Cape into a polar orbit for
example. In reality, safety considerations dictate against it.

D.
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-Resolved: To be more temperate in my postings.
Oct 5th, 2004 JDL
 




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