Soyuz MS-05 trio lands in Kazakhstan after 138-day ISS stay
The Soyuz MS-05 capsule returns to Earth. Photo Credit: Roscosmos
Returning from the black of space to the cold of Kazakhstan, three International Space Station crew members have returned to Earth after 138 days and 17 hours in space. Soyuz MS-05 landed at 2:37 p.m. Kazakh time (3:37 a.m. EST / 08:37 GMT) Dec. 14, 2017.
NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli, and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Ryazanskiy landed on the Steppe of Kazakh in their Soyuz MS-05 capsule, not far from where they launched to space some five months earlier on July 28, 2017. Temperatures were hovering around 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 12.2 degrees Celsius) when the trio was recovered from the capsule – a difference of some 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15.5 degrees Celsius) from the interior temperature of the ISS.
Photo Credit: Roscosmos
Six hours earlier, at 9:02 p.m. EST (02:02 GMT Dec. 14), the hatches between Soyuz MS-05 and the space station’s Rassvet module were closed after a ceremonial farewell with the three space flyers staying behind. Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin and NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba will remain aboard the outpost through February 2018.
Undocking took place at 12:14 a.m. EST (05:14 GMT) Dec. 14. The docking mechanism springs pushed the spacecraft away from the outpost. After several seconds, the capsule fired its thrusters to push it away from the station even faster.
Just over 2 hours later, Soyuz MS-05 performed a 4.5-minute deorbit burn. This slowed the spacecraft by about 420 feet (128 meters) per second – just enough to cause its orbit to intercept with the atmosphere to begin re-entry.
A few minutes before entry interface, the three main parts of the Soyuz – the orbital module, descent module, and service module – separated. Only the capsule with the three crew members is designed to survive.
Some 62 miles (100 kilometers) above Earth, the Soyuz and the trio inside blazed through the atmosphere traveling nearly 5 miles (8 kilometers) per second. Seven minutes later, the spacecraft slowed to just 1.4 miles (2.2 kilometers) per second. The space flyers aboard felt about 4.5 times the force of gravity at this point.
Once deeper the Soyuz was deeper in the atmosphere and its velocity slowed enough, a series of parachute deployments began. First, a pilot chute deployed to pull out the drogue chute. This slowed the vehicle down to a mere 262 feet (280 meters) per second.
Finally, the main parachute was deployed. Its 10,764-square-foot (1,000-square-meter) surface area slowed the Soyuz down to about 21 feet (6.5 meters) per second.
However, this was not enough. Some 3 feet (about 1 meter) above the ground, “soft” landing jets were fired to cushion the impact of landing. Astronauts in the past have described this event as being similar to a car crash.
After landing, the parachute began to drag the spacecraft onto its side before pyrotechnics cut the chute, as planned.
Once stable, Russian search and recovery teams moved in via helicopters and all-terrain vehicles to extract the crew. First out was Commander Sergey Ryazanskiy, followed by Paolo Nespoli and then Randy Bresnik. Each was carried to a nearby couch and given water. They were also able to call family members.
It wasn’t long before the crew was taken to a nearby inflatable medical tent for further evaluation. Once that was done, each space flyer was placed in a helicopter to be flown to nearby Karaganda, Kazakhstan. There they will part ways to their respective space agencies – Bresnik to Houston, Ryazanskiy to Moscow, and Nespoli to Cologne, Germany.
Bresnik finished his second spaceflight. Between his first flight aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis’ STS-129 mission in 2009 and this long-duration mission, he has logged some 150 days in orbit.
Ryazanskiy is also on his second spaceflight. He first flew to orbit in 2013 as part of Expedition 37 and 38. His career total now stands at 306 days.
Finally, Nespoli is on his third spaceflight. His first flight into space was during the STS-120 mission in 2007, which saw the addition of the Harmony module to the ISS. He ventured into orbit again in 2010 and 2011 as part of Expedition 26 and 27. At the conclusion of that long-duration flight, he took the first pictures of a space shuttle docked to the outpost from his departing Soyuz spacecraft. His total time in space stands at 313 days.
Expedition 53 / Soyuz MS-05 Landing. Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA
Soyuz MS-05 crew member Sergey Ryazanskiy (Roscosmos) is first to be helped out of the capsule. Photo Credit: Roscosmos
Paolo Nespoli (ESA) is the second Soyuz MS-05 crew member helped out of the capsule. Photo Credit: Roscosmos
Last but not least, NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik is helped out of the Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft. Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA
Left to right: Sergey Ryazanskiy (Roscosmos), Paolo Nespoli (ESA), and Randy Bresnik (NASA). Photos Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA
Video courtesy of NASA Video
Derek Richardson
Derek Richardson has a degree in mass media, with an emphasis in contemporary journalism, from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. While at Washburn, he was the managing editor of the student run newspaper, the Washburn Review. He also has a website about human spaceflight called Orbital Velocity. You can find him on twitter @TheSpaceWriter.
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