Soyuz TM-17
Encyclopedia
Soyuz TM-17 was a Russian mission to the space station Mir
, launched on July 1, 1993. It lasted 196 days and 17 hours, making more than 3,000 orbits of the planet Earth
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Mir
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At 7:37:11 a.m. Moscow time (MT), on 1994 January 14, Soyuz-TM 17 separated from the forward port of the Mir station. At 7:43:59 a.m., the Mission Control Center in Korolev (TsUP) ordered Tsibliyev to steer Soyuz-TM 17 to within 15 metres of the Kristall module to begin photography of the APAS-89 docking system. At 7:46:20 a.m., Tsibliyev complained that Soyuz-TM 17 was handling sluggishly. Serebrov, standing by for photography in the orbital module
, then asked Tsibliyev to move the spacecraft out of the station plane because it was coming close to one of the solar arrays. In Mir, Viktor Afanasyev ordered Valeri Polyakov and Yuri Usachyov to evacuate to the Soyuz TM-18
spacecraft. At 7:47:30 a.m., controllers in the TsUP saw the image from Soyuz-TM 17’s external camera shake violently, and Serebrov reported that Soyuz-TM 17 had hit Mir. The TsUP then lost communications with Mir and Soyuz-TM 17. Intermittent communications were restored with Soyuz-TM 17 at 7:52 a.m. Voice communications with Mir were not restored until 8:02 a.m. Inspection of Soyuz-TM 17 indicated no serious damage. In this connection, the Russians revealed that they had studied contingency reentries by depressurized spacecraft in the wake of the Soyuz 11
accident. The Mir cosmonauts did not feel the impact, though the station’s guidance system registered angular velocity and switched to free flying mode.
Later analysis indicated that the right side of the orbital module had struck Mir two glancing blows 2 seconds apart. The impact point was on Kristall, near its connection to the Mir base block. The cause of the impact was traced to a switch error: the hand controller in the orbital module which governed braking and acceleration was switched on, disabling the equivalent hand controller (the left motion control lever) in the descent module. Tsibliyev was able to use the right lever to steer Soyuz past Mir’s solar arrays, antennas, and docking ports after it became clear impact was inevitable.
Mir
Mir was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, at first by the Soviet Union and then by Russia. Assembled in orbit from 1986 to 1996, Mir was the first modular space station and had a greater mass than that of any previous spacecraft, holding the record for the...
, launched on July 1, 1993. It lasted 196 days and 17 hours, making more than 3,000 orbits of the planet Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
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Crew
Mission highlights
Soyuz TM-17 was the 17th expedition to the Russian Space StationSpace station
A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a crew which is designed to remain in space for an extended period of time, and to which other spacecraft can dock. A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by its lack of major propulsion or landing...
Mir
Mir
Mir was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, at first by the Soviet Union and then by Russia. Assembled in orbit from 1986 to 1996, Mir was the first modular space station and had a greater mass than that of any previous spacecraft, holding the record for the...
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At 7:37:11 a.m. Moscow time (MT), on 1994 January 14, Soyuz-TM 17 separated from the forward port of the Mir station. At 7:43:59 a.m., the Mission Control Center in Korolev (TsUP) ordered Tsibliyev to steer Soyuz-TM 17 to within 15 metres of the Kristall module to begin photography of the APAS-89 docking system. At 7:46:20 a.m., Tsibliyev complained that Soyuz-TM 17 was handling sluggishly. Serebrov, standing by for photography in the orbital module
Orbital module
The orbital module is a portion of spacecraft used only in orbit. These have developed from the Soviet Soyuz spacecraft.-Soyuz orbit module:The orbit module is a spherical part of Soviet-Russian Soyuz space ship series...
, then asked Tsibliyev to move the spacecraft out of the station plane because it was coming close to one of the solar arrays. In Mir, Viktor Afanasyev ordered Valeri Polyakov and Yuri Usachyov to evacuate to the Soyuz TM-18
Soyuz TM-18
Soyuz TM-18 was launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome and landing 112 km north of Arkalyk. TM-18 was a two day solo flight that docked with the Mir space station on January 10, 1994. The three cosmonauts became the 15th resident crew of the MIR...
spacecraft. At 7:47:30 a.m., controllers in the TsUP saw the image from Soyuz-TM 17’s external camera shake violently, and Serebrov reported that Soyuz-TM 17 had hit Mir. The TsUP then lost communications with Mir and Soyuz-TM 17. Intermittent communications were restored with Soyuz-TM 17 at 7:52 a.m. Voice communications with Mir were not restored until 8:02 a.m. Inspection of Soyuz-TM 17 indicated no serious damage. In this connection, the Russians revealed that they had studied contingency reentries by depressurized spacecraft in the wake of the Soyuz 11
Soyuz 11
Soyuz 11 was the first manned mission to arrive at the world's first space station, Salyut 1. The mission arrived at the space station on June 7, 1971 and departed on June 30, 1971. The mission ended in disaster when the crew capsule depressurized during preparations for re-entry, killing the...
accident. The Mir cosmonauts did not feel the impact, though the station’s guidance system registered angular velocity and switched to free flying mode.
Later analysis indicated that the right side of the orbital module had struck Mir two glancing blows 2 seconds apart. The impact point was on Kristall, near its connection to the Mir base block. The cause of the impact was traced to a switch error: the hand controller in the orbital module which governed braking and acceleration was switched on, disabling the equivalent hand controller (the left motion control lever) in the descent module. Tsibliyev was able to use the right lever to steer Soyuz past Mir’s solar arrays, antennas, and docking ports after it became clear impact was inevitable.