Progress M-27M
| Progress M-27M | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Space transporter |
| Country: |
 Russia
|
| Operator: | Roscosmos |
| COSPAR-ID : | 2015-024A |
| Mission dates | |
| Dimensions: | 7290 kg |
| Begin: | April 28, 2015, 07:09 UTC |
| Starting place: | Baikonur 6/31 |
| Launcher: | Soyuz-2.1a |
| Flight duration: | 12 days |
| Status: | burned up on May 8, 2015 |
| Orbit data | |
| Orbit inclination : | 51.6 ° |
| Apogee height : | 279 km |
| Perigee height : | 194 km |
Progress M-27M (also Progress 59P ) was a Progress space transporter , which was launched on April 28, 2015 on the way to the ISS . Due to a problem with the separation from the Soyuz rocket , it did not reach the intended orbit and could not be brought under control. It burned up in the earth's atmosphere on May 8, 2015.
Planned mission
A routine supply flight to the International Space Station ISS was planned, which had already been carried out many times in a similar configuration. The space transporter Progress M-27M was the 150th flight and was supposed to bring about 2357 kg of cargo to the ISS, which at the time was manned by six space travelers from ISS Expedition 43 . The planned orbit was 193 km near the earth and 238 km away from the earth.
The rendezvous with the ISS and the docking were planned for about six hours after the launch. After a few months, the spacecraft would have been loaded with trash as usual. After the disengagement, it would have been deliberately brought down over the South Pacific.
Mission history
Preparation and start
The space transporter was brought to the launch site in Baikonur on October 6, 2014 . On April 24, the freighter and launcher were connected.
The Soyuz rocket type 2.1a with the space transporter at the top was brought to launch pad 6/31 in the morning on April 26, 2015 and erected there. The launch took place as planned on April 28, 2015 at 07:09 UTC . The first two stages of the rocket worked flawlessly.
Malfunction
Eight minutes and 45 seconds after takeoff, the third stage separated from the space transporter. The rocket's telemetry data had failed shortly after the third stage engine was shut down, but before the space transporter was disconnected from the third stage.
The Progress unfolded its solar cells and three communication antennas as planned. Nevertheless, the ground station could Korolyov near Moscow not determine whether the antennas for the rendezvous and docking system course had been unfolded. Telemetry signals were only received sporadically. In addition, at 193.85 km near the Earth and 279.15 km away from the Earth, the orbit was about 40 kilometers higher than planned, which, however, did not necessarily endanger the success of the mission.
The rendezvous has been postponed and should not take place until April 30th, 34 revolutions after launch and with manual controls if necessary to give the technicians additional time to understand the situation and resolve the issues. On the same day, it turned out that the rendezvous drive was defective, making coupling to the ISS impossible. It was unclear whether the second drive could still be activated to initiate a controlled crash. When the Progress M-27M flew over Russia, TV signals from the on-board camera could be received, which showed that the space transporter was rotating. One rotation only took three seconds, which explains the telemetry failures.
An American observation station was able to identify 44 objects in the area of the space transporter. This high number indicated debris as a result of a collision or explosion. Several attempts to establish contact during April 29th failed and the engines could not be activated to stop rotation. As expected, the third Soyuz stage entered the earth's atmosphere on April 29 and burned up.
crash
After all attempts to steer the transporter failed, the only thing left to do was wait for it to enter the earth's atmosphere and burn up. The calculation of reentry is relatively complex and depends heavily on the mass and drag of the spacecraft, as well as on the fluctuating density of the high atmosphere. The predictions are therefore always fraught with great uncertainty.
The crash finally took place in the 160th orbit on May 8, 2015 at around 02:04 UTC over the South Pacific west of Chile.
Effects
The Progress M-26M space freighter was docked to the ISS until August 14, 2015. Its engines were used to correct the ISS orbit for the upcoming landing of Soyuz TMA-15M . The ISS is adequately equipped, there are no supply bottlenecks to fear. The next supply flight took place on June 28 with a Dragon transporter; however, the start also failed.
While the exact cause was still being investigated, the schedules for further Soyuz launches have been changed. The next manned launch of a Soyuz rocket with the Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft was postponed by around two months to the end of July, and the Progress launch planned for August was brought forward to the beginning of July. In order to keep the ISS manned with six space travelers as long as possible, the landing of Soyuz TMA-15M was postponed for several weeks to June 11th.
Cause of accident
Roskosmos published a short interim report on May 12 and announced another report on the cause of the accident for May 22, 2015. On June 1, 2015, Roskosmos blamed a “design peculiarity” in the combination of rocket and spaceship for the failure.
In the complex of the new Soyuz 2.1a upper stage and the Progress spaceship, unexpected resonances occurred , which led to the weakening of the structure of the newly designed fuel tanks of the upper stage. When the engine ( MECO ) of the upper stage was switched off, there was a pressure surge in the fuel system, which burst the tanks and catalpulted the Progress M-27M into a higher orbit than planned. In the process, the spaceship was given an uncontrollable turn and suffered considerable structural damage due to the rubble, which rendered it steering and propulsionless.
Web links
- Roscosmos : Прогресс М-27М (Russian)
- Anatoly Zak: Progress M-27M mission (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Roscosmos : РОСКОСМОС: ТГК «ПРОГРЕСС М-27М» ПРЕКРАТИЛ СУЩЕСТВОВАНИЕ. May 8, 2015, Retrieved May 8, 2015 (Russian).
- ↑ Nicolas Pillet: List des vaisseaux Progress. April 29, 2015, accessed May 8, 2015 (French).
- ↑ Время московское ( Memento from May 8, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Roscosmos : На Байконур доставлен грузовой космический корабль «Прогресс М-27М». October 6, 2014, accessed May 8, 2015 (Russian).
- ↑ Energija: LV Soyuz general integration is completed. April 24, 2015, accessed May 8, 2015 .
- ^ Vandenberg Air Force Base: Joint Space Operations Center tracking Progress anomaly. (No longer available online.) April 29, 2015, archived from the original on May 18, 2015 ; accessed on May 8, 2015 .
- ^ Aerospace Corporation: SL-4 Rocket Body. (No longer available online.) April 29, 2015, archived from the original on May 18, 2015 ; accessed on May 8, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ TASS: Controlled deorbiting of Progress impossible - source. April 29, 2015, accessed May 8, 2015 .
- ↑ NASA: Russian Cargo Craft Leaves Space Station. August 14, 2015, accessed on August 16, 2015 .
- ↑ Chris Bergin: Progress M-27M re-enters over the Pacific as Russia evaluates schedule. May 7, 2015, accessed May 8, 2015 .
- ↑ RT: ISS crew tells RT station well stocked despite Progress re-supply failure. May 6, 2015, accessed May 8, 2015 .
- ^ NASA: International Space Station Partners Adjust Spacecraft Schedule. In: NASA Press Release 15-091. May 12, 2015, accessed May 13, 2015 .
- ↑ Roscosmos : РОСКОСМОС: НАЗВАНА ОСНОВНАЯ ПРИЧИНА АВАРИИ ТГК «ПРОГРЕСС М-27М». May 12, 2015, Retrieved May 13, 2015 (Russian).
- ↑ Russian space freighter accident caused by rocket linkage peculiarity - space agency. TASS, June 1, 2015, accessed June 26, 2015 .
- ↑ Progress MS Spacecraft begins Debut Mission to ISS with successful Launch atop Soyuz Rocket. Spaceflight101.com, December 21, 2015, accessed August 13, 2017 .
