NASA astronaut Don Pettit is just acouple of day away from returning to Earthon a Russian Soyuz space vehicle after a seven - calendar month stay at the International Space Station , micturate it the perfect sentence to revisit his astonishing write up of his first Soyuz homecoming in 2003 .
In the article , Pettit describes in vivid detail the extraordinary experience of hurtle through Earth ’s atmosphere at five miles a second , and how malfunctions with Soyuz led to the flight of steps dwelling becoming a kind of trial run landing for a future crewed missionary station to Mars .
Just ahead of the spacecraft ’s gamey - stop number entry into Earth ’s aura 22 years ago , it became apparent to Pettit and his two crewmates — Ken Bowersox and Nikolai Budarin — that the Soyuz was experiencing issuing with its guidance organisation , causing the ejection seat to switch from a controlled , docile entry to a much steeper and rougher “ ballistic ” submission .
“ This was the first entry flying of a Soyuz with an upgraded cockpit , and it was malfunctioning,”Pettit wrote in his accountfor Smithsonian powder magazine , add : “ We were derive in with no more blessing than a cannon testis . ”
A consequence of a ballistic entrance , Pettit said , is that your G floor climbs to more than twice that of a normal entry , “ so instead of experience 3 to 3.5 Gs , we were grunt under peak loadings above 8 Gs , after having experience for almost half a yr in the zero G of infinite . In my spacesuit I weighed about 1,700 Pound . ”
Having made it though the unconventional entrance cognitive process , next came the parachute opening successiveness , “ with its carnival - drive oscillations . ” The ride smoothed out once all the chutes were undefended , but the touchdown was one to commemorate .
“ The Soyuz is notorious for hard landings , ” Pettit wrote . “ To dampen the blow , a serial of minuscule rockets beneath the fomite fired a few foot before shock . The Russians call them ‘ soft landing place rockets . ’ Long - stroke shock absorbers beneath our couches reduced the nose candy to something like a rearward - destruction hit in haste minute traffic . After tumbling end over end a few times in another of those longer - than - reality bit , our capsule stopped on its side about 100 feet from the point of shock , having plowed enough dirt to make a small flower garden . ”
Pettit explain that due to the physics of a ballistic entry , the Soyuz capsule had bring down almost 300 mil aside from the intended spot .
“ After the chute had opened , we shared a brief radio dispatch with a search - and - rescue aircraft , so its crew know that we were okay . But they miss contact before we could explain that our submission had been ballistic . Once below their radio receiver purview , we were out of compass . No one at Russian mission control love where we were . The landing personnel waited for us at the plan site , and we had rudely failed to show up . ”
If they had land in the veracious place , ground support personnel would ’ve been there to aid extract them from the capsule , a maneuver that would be grueling for an cosmonaut to do on their own after spending month in microgravity consideration on the ISS .
But with no one to assist , the three crewmembers cautiously struggled out of the spacecraft before enjoying a moment relish in the sun .
“ It feel upright to lie in on my back and commune with Mother Earth , ” Pettit tell . “ The sky was a most wonderful blue . The smell of freshly ground earth and oppress spring grass from our Soyuz ’s tumble fill up our noses . A dunnock ’s song greeted our ears . A snap touched our face . The three of us propped our head on our pile of survival equipment as if it were a giant communal pillow . Our bodies radiated outward like a three - mouth wheel . ”
About two minute after their restoration , the crew were ultimately capable to make wireless contact with a search airplane . The helicopters carrying the ground support personnel department arrived about three hours after that .
Pettit write about how the unusual return “ had an uncanny resemblance to a slip to , and a landing on , Mars … The parallel of latitude are strike . First we live in a weightless surround for five and a one-half months . calculate on the choice of propulsion , six calendar month is a skilful estimation for a one - agency misstep to Mars . So our level of deconditioning was about the same as that of a crew arriving at the Red Planet . We pilot our own spacecraft through a in high spirits - deoxyguanosine monophosphate entry evasive action , like to what a crowd may have to do at Mars . Our landing place episode involved a combination of parachutes and landing rockets , culminating in a hard landing place on dry ground in one of the more remote place on Earth . For reaching the Martian control surface , such a combination is an attractive option . And the landing site will be remote . ”
He added : “ On our own , we performed a phone number of basic usable labor not unlike those a bunch might perform after landing on Mars , such as spacecraft safing , which involves recitation procedures , flipping electrical switch , and pushing button on the ascendency panel to power down unnecessary equipment to extend battery life for the radios . Since the Soyuz capsule ended up on its side , we did this lather into a ass fixed to a slanted ceiling . We then reach the hatching by ourselves , unstrapped , and crawled out .
“ We perform all these operations with no external help , ” Pettit say , adding : “ We might as well have been on Mars . ”
Fortunately for Pettit — and everyone else that trip on the Soyuz these days — the Russian ballistic capsule has received several upgrades since that troubled flight home 22 long time ago , and so the American astronaut should be in for a much smoother ride back to terra firma on Saturday .
Be sure to chequer outPettit ’s full and fascinating accounton Smithsonian ’s internet site .
