Discussion
Launch in a short while of two crew members to the space station. Flying only two on a Soyuz is quite rare these days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8d9CqS2cvc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8d9CqS2cvc
Had to go out this morning so couldn't follow the events as closely as I would have liked to. There was obviously a booster malfunction just at the moment the strap on boosters are discarded. From the on board footage you could see there was a problem straight away as these was some sort of "pogo effect" apparent i.e. the crew were being pushed backwards and forwards in their seats - which normally doesn't happen.
This is a serious event. The last time a Soyuz had to abort during ascent was way back in 1975.
And, there will have to be a major investigation into what happens - which means there will be nobody flying to the ISS for quite a while.
Glad to hear that both crew men are OK.
This is a serious event. The last time a Soyuz had to abort during ascent was way back in 1975.
And, there will have to be a major investigation into what happens - which means there will be nobody flying to the ISS for quite a while.
Glad to hear that both crew men are OK.
Well, it knocks the calendar of future flights for six for a start. It all depends on how long it takes to find out what went wrong and then working out how to fix the problem.
Video of the footage is here. The failure occurs about 130 seconds after lift off. If you look at the way the boosters are tumbling back there does seem to be other stuff falling back besides the four strap ons. It certainly does not look as "neat" as a normal booster separation (often referred to as "Korolev's Cross") I wonder if the first stage actually exploded as the boosters separated?
At the moment of booster separation the internal view of the spacecraft shows a significant pogo effect and some picture breakup. This is a major failure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0l5QBmqQoI
Video of the footage is here. The failure occurs about 130 seconds after lift off. If you look at the way the boosters are tumbling back there does seem to be other stuff falling back besides the four strap ons. It certainly does not look as "neat" as a normal booster separation (often referred to as "Korolev's Cross") I wonder if the first stage actually exploded as the boosters separated?
At the moment of booster separation the internal view of the spacecraft shows a significant pogo effect and some picture breakup. This is a major failure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0l5QBmqQoI
Genuine pogo I would think caused by one or all of the core stage rocket engines (it has eight of them) misfiring (or even exploding).
Watch the behaviour of the toy dangling on a string. All Soyuz launches feature these toys as they are actually a good and simple indicator as to whether positive or negative Gs are being applied. They aren't there just for fun.
Watch the behaviour of the toy dangling on a string. All Soyuz launches feature these toys as they are actually a good and simple indicator as to whether positive or negative Gs are being applied. They aren't there just for fun.
As I pointed out in the similar thread in the News Forum (Mods - any chance of thinning the multiple threads down as it's hard to keep up), the whole launch sequence from about 2 minutes in is all cockeyed.
The escape tower seems to have fired at the same time the strap-ons were jettisoned. That is not normal. The escape tower goes about one minute later in a normal launch.
The escape tower seems to have fired at the same time the strap-ons were jettisoned. That is not normal. The escape tower goes about one minute later in a normal launch.
The escape tower would normally fire automatically if it sensed something was going wrong with the booster. Obviously, if this is what was going on, the tower should, naturally, pull the Soyuz spacecraft with it to safety. That is what the escape tower is for.
It's not clear from the footage whether the escape tower actually pulled the capsule with it or whether it flew off on its own. Whatever happened, it certainly left the scene way earlier than it normally would in a launch that was going OK.
Whatever was going wrong does seem to be linked to that moment in the launch sequence when the side boosters are jettisoned.
It's not clear from the footage whether the escape tower actually pulled the capsule with it or whether it flew off on its own. Whatever happened, it certainly left the scene way earlier than it normally would in a launch that was going OK.
Whatever was going wrong does seem to be linked to that moment in the launch sequence when the side boosters are jettisoned.
Back in the very early days of US manned spaceflight there was an infamous episode where the escape tower on a Mercury Redstone took off, leaving the Mercury capsule behind sitting on the rocket -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0w_xyePC_0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0w_xyePC_0
Yes - this is the third abort in the Soyuz programme. All three were a bit different.
I am pretty sure that the escape tower was NOT used to pull the capsule clear. It was jettisoned on its own and then the capsule separated of its own accord to carry on in a ballistic arc. By the time the problem occurred, I think the rocket was high enough (50 km plus) that the escape tower was not needed.
As to what caused the abort, I think something exploded at the moment the four boosters were jettisoned. You can see a lot of debris in addition to tumbling boosters. I also think the core section of the booster was knocked off course by the explosion. It looks like it has slewed sideways in the video if you look carefully. By then, the abort procedures would have automatically kicked in.
Watch Scott Manley's explanation and his talk through of the launch video. He also features another view of the launch from a different camera angle and the errant strap on booster is more apparent.
1.30 in the video below -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpqq0i4w_fM
I am pretty sure that the escape tower was NOT used to pull the capsule clear. It was jettisoned on its own and then the capsule separated of its own accord to carry on in a ballistic arc. By the time the problem occurred, I think the rocket was high enough (50 km plus) that the escape tower was not needed.
As to what caused the abort, I think something exploded at the moment the four boosters were jettisoned. You can see a lot of debris in addition to tumbling boosters. I also think the core section of the booster was knocked off course by the explosion. It looks like it has slewed sideways in the video if you look carefully. By then, the abort procedures would have automatically kicked in.
Watch Scott Manley's explanation and his talk through of the launch video. He also features another view of the launch from a different camera angle and the errant strap on booster is more apparent.
1.30 in the video below -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpqq0i4w_fM
The odd thing would be is that they have launched literally thousands of this type of rocket (the R7) going right back to 1956. Having the boosters strike the central core stage is extremely rare. In fact, I can't recall any single incident of it ever happening. When they are jettisoned, aerodynamics usually cause the boosters to fall away from the central stage in a quickly divergent path - forming what has often been referred to as "Korolev's Cross" (after Sergei Korolev, the designer of the R7 booster).
Onboard footage of the boosters falling away at 1.30. Note the manner in which they separate and tumble -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf1Wu1BT5jo
Onboard footage of the boosters falling away at 1.30. Note the manner in which they separate and tumble -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf1Wu1BT5jo
I'm always reluctant to get involved in conspiracy theories. However, there has been a consistent problem with Russian space technology over the past few years regarding sloppiness in construction and poor quality control and management.
Incompetence is usually a far more likely cause of problems than deliberate malpractice.
Incompetence is usually a far more likely cause of problems than deliberate malpractice.
Kccv23highliftcam said:
Eric Mc said:
I don't see Putin sabotaging his own country's space efforts.
That's the point Eric, it isn't "his"....Anyway..they don't make then like they used to...
https://youtu.be/-sUXMzkh-jI
Russian incompetence is far more the likely cause.
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