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posted by martyb on Saturday November 03 2018, @01:06PM   Printer-friendly
from the would-you-ride-that-now? dept.

Humans are to blame for the October failure of the Soyuz rocket:

Roscosmos: An assembly error doomed our Soyuz, but we promise it won't happen again

The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, has completed its investigation into October's Soyuz mishap in record time, pointing the finger of blame at problems during assembly.

Mutterings emitted from the space agency earlier this week suggested that the issue was related to a sensor that detects stage separation of the booster. In yesterday's press conference, Roscosmos provided a few more details and shared a terrifying video[*] showing the moment things went bad for the Soyuz. It then gave the green light for putting a crew back on the thing next month.

The actual explosion was, according to the State Commission tasked with getting to the bottom of the mess, caused by one of the side boosters not separating correctly and striking the rocket core. This led to the depressurisation of a fuel tank and the loss of control of the booster. The problems start at 1:23 in the video.

Of course, the real question is why did the separation fail? The answer, according to Roscosmos, was a failure to open a nozzle at the top of the strap-on booster to vent its tank. This meant the booster did not separate cleanly. The nozzle failure was caused by a faulty contact sensor, which had been "bent" during assembly of the Soyuz at the Baikonur cosmodrome.

[*] [This appears to be the video. --Ed.]

Also at Inverse.

Previously: Soyuz Crew Vehicle Fails Mid-Flight, Astronauts OK
Soyuz Failure Narrowed Down to Collision Between Booster and Core Stage


Original Submission

Related Stories

Soyuz Crew Vehicle Fails Mid-Flight, Astronauts OK 34 comments

Soyuz FG fails during ascent – Soyuz MS-10 crew safe after ballistic entry abort

The Russian federal space agency, Roscosmos, launched their Soyuz MS-10 crew vehicle with two new crewmembers that were set for the International Space Station. However, the launch – which took place on Thursday at 0840 UTC from Baikonur – failed a few minutes into flight. Soyuz MS-10 was then aborted on a ballistic entry, before safely landing downrange of the launch site.

The crewed Soyuz, which would normally ferry three people to the Station, was carrying a reduced crew complement as part of Russia's initiative to keep their total crew presence on Station to just two until the launch, late next year, of their primary science lab, Nauka.

However, those plans are unlikely to apply now Soyuz MS-10 has failed to arrive at the ISS, with the Soyuz FG likely to be grounded for some time as a State Commision invesigation[sic] takes place.

Also at The Verge, Reuters, and CNN, and CBS.


Original Submission

Soyuz Failure Narrowed Down to Collision Between Booster and Core Stage 16 comments

Soyuz failure probe narrows focus on collision at booster separation

Russian investigators believe a malfunction during separation of the Soyuz rocket's four liquid-fueled first stage boosters two minutes after liftoff from Kazakhstan led to an emergency landing of a two-man crew heading for the International Space Station, officials said Friday.

Speaking to reporters Friday in Moscow, veteran cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, head of the Russian space agency's human spaceflight program, said the investigation into Thursday's launch failure has narrowed on a collision between part of the Soyuz rocket's first stage and the launcher's second stage.

Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin and NASA astronaut Nick Hague were carried away from the failing rocket by an emergency escape system, and they safely landed inside their descent module near Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, around 250 miles (400 kilometers) northeast of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, where the launch originated.

The Soyuz first stage is comprised of four boosters, each powered by a four-nozzle kerosene-fueled RD-107A main engine, that burn for 1 minute, 58 seconds, during launch. Once their engine firings are complete, the boosters are supposed to jettison simultaneously at an altitude of roughly 150,000 feet (45 kilometers) to tumble back to Earth. Krikalev said Friday that one of the boosters did not separate from the Soyuz core stage — or second stage — cleanly.

Previously: Soyuz Crew Vehicle Fails Mid-Flight, Astronauts OK


Original Submission

Soyuz Rocket Carrying Crew Successfully Launches and Docks with ISS 4 comments

Two months after mishap, Russian Soyuz rockets back into space with crew

Less than two months after a booster separation issue with a Soyuz rocket caused a dramatic, high-gravity landing, the Russian vehicle soared back into space on Monday at 6:31 ET (11:31 UTC). The launch from Kazakhstan, under mostly clear, blue skies, was nominal as each of the rocket's first, second, and third stages fired normally.

The launch sent NASA astronaut Anne McClain, Canadian David Saint-Jacques, and Russian Oleg Kononenko into space aboard their Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft. After making four orbits around the Earth, their Soyuz spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the Russian segment of the International Space Station at 12:35pm ET (17:35 UTC) Monday.

According to SpaceFlightNow.com the docking was successful.

Previously: Soyuz Crew Vehicle Fails Mid-Flight, Astronauts OK
Soyuz Failure Narrowed Down to Collision Between Booster and Core Stage
NASA Confident in Soyuz, Ready for Crewed Launch in December
Roscosmos Completes Investigation into October Soyuz Failure, Finds Assembly Issue


Original Submission

Russia's Space Program Just Threw a NASA Astronaut Under the Bus 47 comments

Russia’s space program just threw a NASA astronaut under the bus:

Russia's state-owned news service, TASS, has published an extraordinarily defamatory article about NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor. The publication claims that Auñón-Chancellor had an emotional breakdown in space, then damaged a Russian spacecraft in order to return early. This, of course, is a complete fabrication.

The context for the article is the recent, near-disastrous docking of the Russian Nauka science module with the International Space Station. The TASS article attempts to rebut criticism in US publications (including Ars Technica) that covered the incident and raised questions about the future of the Roscosmos-NASA partnership in space.

One of a dozen rebuttals in the TASS article concerns a 2018 incident—a 2 mm breach in the orbital module of the Soyuz MS-09 vehicle docked with the International Space Station. Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev, European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst, and NASA's Auñón-Chancellor had flown to the station inside this Soyuz in June. The leak was discovered in late August.

Previously:
(2020-09-05) Source of International Space Station Leak Still Not Found, NASA Says
(2018-12-13) Cosmonauts Cut Into Soyuz Docked at the ISS During Nearly 8-Hour Spacewalk
(2018-11-03) Roscosmos Completes Investigation into October Soyuz Failure, Finds Assembly Issue
(2018-10-03) Controversy Over ISS Leak Continues, Spacewalk Planned for November
(2018-09-14) NASA and Roscosmos Release Joint Statement on ISS Leak Amid Rumors
(2018-09-06) Russian Space Chief Vows to Find "Full Name" of Technician Who Caused ISS Leak


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday November 03 2018, @01:12PM (4 children)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Saturday November 03 2018, @01:12PM (#757269)

    Did they ever reach a concrete conclusion about the drill hole in the hull?

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    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday November 03 2018, @01:19PM (2 children)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Saturday November 03 2018, @01:19PM (#757272) Journal

      I don't think much is known other than this, which I'm sure you've already read:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Space_Station_maintenance#2018_%E2%80%93_Leak_in_Soyuz_Orbital_Module [wikipedia.org]

      The drilling in orbit scenario is ridiculous, so it probably comes down to another Roscosmos human error. Seeing a pattern?

      The current incarnation of Roscosmos [wikipedia.org] has only existed since Dec. 28, 2015:

      As a result of a series of reliability problems, and proximate to the failure of a July 2013 Proton M launch, a major reorganization of the Russian space industry was undertaken. The United Rocket and Space Corporation was formed as a joint-stock corporation by the government in August 2013 to consolidate the Russian space sector. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said "the failure-prone space sector is so troubled that it needs state supervision to overcome its problems." Three days following the Proton M launch failure, the Russian government had announced that "extremely harsh measures" would be taken "and spell the end of the [Russian] space industry as we know it." Information indicated then that the government intended to reorganize in such a way as to "preserve and enhance the Roscosmos space agency."

      More detailed plans released in October 2013 called for a re-nationalization of the "troubled space industry," with sweeping reforms including a new "unified command structure and reducing redundant capabilities, acts that could lead to tens of thousands of layoffs." According to Rogozin, the Russian space sector employs about 250,000 people, while the United States needs only 70,000 to achieve similar results. He said: "Russian space productivity is eight times lower than America’s, with companies duplicating one another's work and operating at about 40 percent efficiency."

      Under the 2013 plan, Roscosmos was to "act as a federal executive body and contracting authority for programs to be implemented by the industry."

      In 2016, the state agency was dissolved and the Roscosmos brand moved to the state corporation, which had been created in 2013 as the United Rocket and Space Corporation, with the specific mission to renationalize the Russian space sector.

      In 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin said "it 'is necessary to drastically improve the quality and reliability of space and launch vehicles' ... to preserve Russia’s increasingly threatened leadership in space."

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      • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday November 03 2018, @04:20PM (1 child)

        by JoeMerchant (3937) on Saturday November 03 2018, @04:20PM (#757311)

        I just can't imagine the thought process of ground assembly crew who accidentally puts a drill hole in the hull... like: it's a small hole, nobody will notice? Maybe they stuck some chewing gum in it that later fell off? How bad could the penalty be for coming forward and reporting an error while still in ground assembly? I can see that rewarding reporting of errors could quickly escalate into a creation of errors on purpose scenario, but... at least rotate out the guy with the unsteady hand and give him something with less prestige but equal pay to do, maybe plus a shot of vodka to steady his nerves.

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        🌻🌻 [google.com]
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 03 2018, @09:46PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 03 2018, @09:46PM (#757394)

          That hole did not look accidental, it looked intentional (and as if the drill operator was drunk).

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by legont on Saturday November 03 2018, @01:22PM

      by legont (4179) on Saturday November 03 2018, @01:22PM (#757273)

      The crew on the failed Soyuz mission was supposed to investigate it.

      --
      "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by legont on Saturday November 03 2018, @01:33PM (6 children)

    by legont (4179) on Saturday November 03 2018, @01:33PM (#757276)

    Let me introduce one.

    Russia is in the middle of a pension reform where retirement age is increased from 60 for man and 55 for women to 65 and 60. It is extremely unpopular.

    Most workers on the Soyuz assembly line are old as youngsters don't want manual labor especially in the barren lands of Kazakhstan. Also, the reform is probably designed not so much to save money, but to keep the experienced workers who can still do it.

    --
    "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday November 03 2018, @01:52PM (5 children)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Saturday November 03 2018, @01:52PM (#757280) Journal
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      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 03 2018, @05:36PM (3 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 03 2018, @05:36PM (#757340)

        All I'm getting from that graph is that there are tons of lonely Russian MILFs and GILFs because all the males have died from too much vodak. Time to emigrate!

        • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday November 03 2018, @05:52PM (2 children)

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday November 03 2018, @05:52PM (#757343) Journal

          GILF's? Guys you'd like to fuck? Go for it. I look at the chart, and during the first half of the 20th century, there were a lot of "surplus" women. Looking at the bottom half of the chart, there are a lot of surplus guys, right now. I don't think the women are any more lonely than they want to be, or in some cases, than they deserve to be. Go on over there, though. If you have a taste for the guys, they are there!

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 04 2018, @04:28PM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 04 2018, @04:28PM (#757653)

            GILFs. That would be "Girls I like to...". What are you thinking about?

            • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday November 04 2018, @05:23PM

              by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday November 04 2018, @05:23PM (#757670) Journal

              I spelled it out for you. In recent years, there are no "surplus women". If you're going there for the lonely GILF's, then it must be the guys.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 04 2018, @08:40PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 04 2018, @08:40PM (#757721)

        The Yeltsin era really did a number on them...

  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday November 03 2018, @05:47PM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday November 03 2018, @05:47PM (#757341) Journal

    There will be future errors. So long as humans are capable of making errors, they will do so. How about something more realistic? "We'll try harder to make sure the same mistake doesn't happen again."

    Meanwhile - gotta respect the Russians for moving ahead, and past this problem. NASA maybe wants to reexamine every single bolt and screw and weld on the next vehicle - but Russia plans to go on ahead. YOLO, right? Additionally, you can only die once. Don't sweat the small stuff.

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