«The most difficult were the inconveniences. The suits are not removed, so as not to freeze. Armchair molded right on the figure, it is impossible to turn around. The total amount of CA - only three cubic meters, he returned full of instruments, equipment, film and photos, documents, even the fish were. Numb legs, very much like eating and drinking, but did not touch the emergency rations. The difficulties increased, and that the device is left in the Cesspool otstrelennom living compartment ... I do not release myself from the guilt that after repeated failure tried to re-start the engine, as was an option - enter the correct setting in the course of operation. Very much like the Earth ... » i> blockquote> Planting took place on September 7 in the automatic mode is perfectly normal. But after this incident, the separation compartment "Union" only after braking. Better to spend a little bit of fuel for nothing, than to suffer the inconvenience.
STS-27 h4>
Mission STS-27 space shuttle "Atlantis" was the second since the resumption of flights, interrupted disaster "Challenger". It was a military mission, during which the orbit was to be delivered to a spy satellite (presumably radar reconnaissance satellite "Lacrosse"). On the solid accelerators were new, lighter nose cones. And 85 seconds into the flight the nose cone of the right TTU began to crumble, and its fragments struck the shuttle's thermal barrier coating. What is happening on the ground was fixed camera and did not go unnoticed. After removing the crew turned the manipulator "Canadarm" to the camera and began to inspect the bottom surface of the "Atlantis". The spectacle was unimportant - if thermal protection tiles fired anti-aircraft gun (and the commander Robert Gibson fought in Vietnam and saw the result of anti-aircraft guns). But, strangely enough, MCC Houston did not see a problem. The camera image transmitted over an encrypted communication channel (remember, this is a military mission), encryption greatly reduced image quality, and engineers in the world have decided that the injuries are only the play of light and shadow. And on a completely unknown reason, astronauts, verbally describing the problem, do not believe it! Worse, MCC Houston took no action for more information. During STS-27, did not watch from the earth, do not use spy satellites, the problem was considered minor. Landing was normal, but the engineers got a nasty surprise - with the personal inspection of the damaged thermal barrier coating looked even worse. "Atlantis" was 707 strokes, had to change from 125 to 175 thermal protection tiles and one tile with a lower surface generally has been broken, and aluminum under it began to melt under braking on the atmosphere:
STS-27 astronauts were lucky - on this place was attached antenna, and the body was thicker than usual. But apathy MCC virtually guaranteed that this problem will turn into a catastrophe. That is exactly what happened with the "Columbia" - we will never know the extent of damage its wing in 2003, and whether it was possible to save the shuttle and seven crew members.
STS-37 h4>
One of the worst dangers threatening the man to walk in space in the suit occurred in this flight. A small pin in the spacesuit glove Jerome EPTA moved from his seat and punched fabric suit. But getting anecdote - to get a small hole, the skin quickly astronaut stuck to it, and the air leakage was not even noticed by automation. Only after returning on board Apt noticed a small abrasion under the knuckle of the right index finger. Lightly!
EO-23 h4>
EO-23 - this is the twenty-third expedition to the main station "Mir", which lasted from February to August 1997. Permanent staff of the expedition were Vasily Tsibliyev and Alexander Lazutkin also in it at the time included: the German astronaut Reinhold Ewald and NASA astronauts Jerry Linenger and Michael Foale. The share of this expedition has dropped a lot of accidents, two of them were so severe that TsUPom addressed the issue of the emergency crew return to Earth, and in one of these accidents astronauts rescued the "Mir" by acting contrary to instructions. Americans present in the Mission Control Center in Moscow, even called it "Russian" Apollo 13 "that extends to six months».
Fire February 23«In the evening, at 22:30, I flew to burn pot. All done as usual. Run the checker at once. I checked that it works. I was about to leave. The boys were sitting at a table in the big blind, and I really wanted them. Suddenly I heard that on the background of usual noises, new sounds. I look at THC and see an unusual picture. Dark Bag - filter covered by red lights. I can see how it burns through the bag. "He must be off!" - My first thought. The lights appear more and more often. There is a growing crack of working drafts ... in front of me starts a small volcanoes. I feel his hot breath. With hardly I tear myself from the sight, disconnect the fan THC. The shock begins to let go of me. Grab the fire extinguisher. The smoke has gone to BB. At the emergency siren wailing to me flew Valery Korzun. I grabbed a fire extinguisher and demanded more. I flew to BB. All the guys like a scattered in all directions across the station in search of fire extinguishers and gas masks ». I> blockquote> The crew quickly donned masks, armed with a fire extinguisher and quickly put out the fire. But there was a risk that the fire will be uncontrollable, and one of the "Soyuz" could be cut off by fire.
Even after the fire did not end the problem - until the end of the commission investigating the cause of the fire, the crew worked in a potential shortage of oxygen equipment "Electron" is unreliable, and had to use oxygen cylinders stored for spacewalks. The Commission on Earth successfully burned several drafts, the defect was recognized as a unit, and checkers regeneration started using again.
The clash of "progress" with the "world" June 25 2 sup>.
YM