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  Soyuz descent module reentry smoke markers

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Author Topic:   Soyuz descent module reentry smoke markers
Philip
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Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001

posted 03-02-2018 05:55 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Philip   Click Here to Email Philip     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
After the reentry of a Soyuz capsule a sonic boom is heard, but I wonder if the capsule itself deploys smoke markers after Soyuz descent module reentry?

Before full parachute deployment, the Soyuz heat shield is jettisoned and maybe the smoke markers are related to this piece of hardware?

Philip
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Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001

posted 03-04-2018 10:45 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Philip   Click Here to Email Philip     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Could the smoke trails be related to the separation pyrotechnics of the parachute lines?

Robert Pearlman
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From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 03-04-2018 11:53 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I think you might be referring to the venting of hydrogen peroxide from the spacecraft's control system prior to the jettison of the heat shield and soon after the main parachute deploys.

NASA photographer Bill Ingalls caught the venting in a photo of the Soyuz MS-02 landing:

The first frames I shot had the Soyuz so small in the frame that I dismissed them. After a more careful review, and zooming in like crazy, I noticed that I had caught the hydrogen peroxide purge which I had never seen before.

kyra
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Posts: 583
From: Louisville CO US
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 03-06-2018 07:00 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for kyra   Click Here to Email kyra     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The opening of all the descent micro-thrusters and drainage valves is triggered by the same command that jettisons the heat shield in a nominal descent at 5.5 km altitude. (3.5 km altitude on the backup parachute system)

What is vented is the residual of the original 29 to 31 kg of hydrogen peroxide.

Philip
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Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001

posted 03-08-2018 07:18 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Philip   Click Here to Email Philip     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I know that once the main parachute is deployed, the smoke is the H2O2 venting process but I was talking about the very first smoke trails recovery crews on the ground spot so they get an idea of the location of the capsule. In fact smoke trails shortly after the sonic boom, probably related to the heat shield jettison...

See 33 seconds onwards in this video.

kyra
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Posts: 583
From: Louisville CO US
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 03-10-2018 02:21 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for kyra   Click Here to Email kyra     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I've not seen anything like that before. I wonder if these are not from the Soyuz, but from airborne recovery forces to lead the recovery team in the right direction.

Lasv3
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Posts: 410
From: Bratislava, Slovakia
Registered: Apr 2009

posted 03-10-2018 09:59 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Lasv3   Click Here to Email Lasv3     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
What you see in the video are the four segments of the Soyuz launcher first stage falling to earth and the people in the vehicles are the space scrap hunters collecting the precious materials in the steppe and selling them for profit.

This is part of the "Space Tourists" DVD by Christian Frei covering the flight of Anousheh Ansari.

Lasv3
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Posts: 410
From: Bratislava, Slovakia
Registered: Apr 2009

posted 03-11-2018 01:14 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Lasv3   Click Here to Email Lasv3     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Few more words to the "Space Tourists" documentary. It's Swiss made, it's 98 minutes long and it covers mainly the flight of Ms. Ansari.

Author Christian Frei visited many places related to the Soviet/Russian spaceflight and some footage is really very rare. It's the visit of the space scrap metal hunters who made their living from collecting the precious materials they take from the fallen rocket stages which they sell then further, mainly to China.

The short sequence we can see in the video is the return of the four Soyuz first stage boosters after Ms. Ansari's launch from Baikonur. According to the author Mr. Frei he was the first person allowed to go with them to the steppe and take pictures and video footage during the search and dismantling of the rocket stages.

Lou Chinal
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Posts: 1306
From: Staten Island, NY
Registered: Jun 2007

posted 04-25-2018 11:07 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Lou Chinal   Click Here to Email Lou Chinal     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Didn't the jettison of hydrogen peroxide cause the failure of one of the canopies on Apollo 15?

PowerCat
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Posts: 193
From: Herington, KS, USA
Registered: Feb 2006

posted 04-26-2018 07:48 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for PowerCat   Click Here to Email PowerCat     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Apollo 15's parachute failure was due to the RCS Fuel Dump. Hydrogen peroxide was not one of the components.

Lou Chinal
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Posts: 1306
From: Staten Island, NY
Registered: Jun 2007

posted 05-06-2018 08:19 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Lou Chinal   Click Here to Email Lou Chinal     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Okay so Soyuz does not use hydrogen peroxide. But I'm sure whatever they do use is equally corrosive. It's a bad idea to dump any thing once the parachute is open.

Jim Behling
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From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010

posted 05-06-2018 08:40 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jim Behling   Click Here to Email Jim Behling     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Soyuz does use hydrogen peroxide in the descent module. The comment was about Apollo.

Losing a few parachute cords is better than an H2O2 tank exploding upon landing.

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