Soyuz launch video

http://tinyurl.com/26qf27

What's that thing bobbling between the two cosmonauts?

The cosmonauts are also using sticks to operate some controls, I
assume because of the high g forces. Have US astronauts routinely
done the same, or are the controls arranged to make that unnecessary?

http://tinyurl.com/26qf27

What's that thing bobbling between the two cosmonauts?

That was the flight of Soyuz TMA-9 with Truyin, Lopez-Alegria, and Anousheh
Ansari in the left seat waving to the camera. The thing bobbling is a toy
on a string that, in some form or another, is on every Soyuz flight as a
good luck charm. It also allows Moscow Mission Control to assess the
gravity gradients the cosmonauts are experiencing. Simple and effective.

The cosmonauts are also using sticks to operate some controls, I
assume because of the high g forces.

No, it's because the only way to get 3 people to fit in the Soyuz
unfortunately places them too far away from the control panels.

Have US astronauts routinely done the same

No.

or are the controls arranged to make that unnecessary?

Yes.

What's that thing bobbling between the two cosmonauts?

The cosmonauts are also using sticks to operate some controls, I
assume because of the high g forces. Have US astronauts routinely
done the same, or are the controls arranged to make that unnecessary?

I just realized that the video of the launch seems to have been taken by
someone with a hand-held video camera from about 1000' away. How nuts is
that!

I could just imagine NASA authorities going ape if anyone tried doing that
on a shuttle launch!

Vincent D. DeSimone wrote:
No, it's because the only way to get 3 people to fit in the Soyuz
unfortunately places them too far away from the control panels.

It also lets one person work all the controls from their seat in case
the other two become incapacitated.

Pat

Vincent D. DeSimone wrote:
I just realized that the video of the launch seems to have been taken by
someone with a hand-held video camera from about 1000' away. How nuts is
that!


Oh, they get close to those things when they take off.
I've seen photos taken right from the "dragon's teeth" used to break up
the rocket if it starts skidding toward the blockhouse.
Most of the time if it malfunctions it falls into the blast pit under
the pad.
On the Foton M-1 launch though, which was filmed by some western
visitors, it went up into the clouds at night....and came right back
down out of the clouds to blow up nearby:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl9u-h_btBo
You note that right after liftoff a large cloud of something (LOX?)
emerges from under the rocket, so it was malfunctioning pretty much
right from the start.

Pat

"larry moe 'n curly" wrote in message
oups.com...
http://tinyurl.com/26qf27

What's that thing bobbling between the two cosmonauts?

Quite possibly the world's simplest g-force meter. ;-) Seriously, I
believe that once it's swinging, the period of the motion relates to the
g-force being experienced.

The cosmonauts are also using sticks to operate some controls, I
assume because of the high g forces. Have US astronauts routinely
done the same, or are the controls arranged to make that unnecessary?

I believe that US astronauts have done the same. Part of the problem is
trying to operate controls while in a pressure suit, especially if the suit
is pressurized. I've heard them called swizzle sticks, but I didn't find
much on the web about them. This article mentions them:

http://www.nasaexplores.com/show2_91...=02-048&gl=912

Jeff
--
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a
little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor
safety"
- B. Franklin, Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (1919)

Jeff Findley wrote:


Quite possibly the world's simplest g-force meter. ;-) Seriously, I
believe that once it's swinging, the period of the motion relates to the
g-force being experienced.


It might also tell you if the rocket is picking up a side motion to its
intended direction of acceleration, which would indicate it is time to
abort.
That happened on Soyuz 18a: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_18a

Pat

On Jul 18, 4:39 am, larry moe 'n curly
wrote:
http://tinyurl.com/26qf27

What's that thing bobbling between the two cosmonauts?

The cosmonauts are also using sticks to operate some controls, I
assume because of the high g forces. Have US astronauts routinely
done the same, or are the controls arranged to make that unnecessary?

Can't seem to post my comment at the video site, anyway he asks where
the score came from. If I'm not mistaken the music in part is the
score from the movie "Crimsom Tide", which in turn reminds me of the
score from "Pirates of the Carribbean" if you listen
closely....................Doc