Soyuz TM-16

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Mission emblem
Mission emblem
Mission dates
Mission: Soyuz TM-16
COSPAR-ID : 1993-005A
Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-ST ( GRAY index  11F732)
serial number 101
Dimensions: 7150 kg
Launcher: Soyuz U2 (GRAY index 11A511U2)
Call sign: Вулка́н (" volcano ")
Crew: 2 started
3 landed
Begin: January 24, 1993, 05:58:05  UTC
Starting place: Baikonur 1/5
Space station: Me
Coupling: January 26, 1993, 07:31:17 UTC
Decoupling: July 22, 1993, 3:00:30 UTC
Landing: July 22, 1993, 06:41:50 UTC
Landing place: 140 km east of Sheqasghan
47 ° 23 ′  N , 69 ° 22 ′  E
Flight duration: 179d 0h 43min 45s
Earth orbits: 2790
Rotation time : 92.4 min
Apogee : 394 km
Perigee : 393 km
◄ Before / After ►
Soyuz TM-15
(manned) 		Soyuz TM-17
(manned)

Soyuz TM-16 is the mission name for the flight of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the Russian Mir space station . It was the 16th visit by a Soyuz spacecraft to the Mir space station and the 92nd flight in the Russian Soyuz program.

crew

Starting crew

Substitute team

Return team

  • Gennady Michailowitsch Manakow (2nd space flight), commander
  • Alexander Fjodorowitsch Poleschtschuk (1st space flight), flight engineer
  • Jean-Pierre Haigneré (1st space flight), science cosmonaut ( CNES / France )Center national d'études spatialesCNES FranceFrance 

Mission overview

The androgynous coupling system APAS-89

Soyuz TM-16 was the first and to this day only Soyuz mission since 1976 in which the standard coupling system was not used and was not docked on the Mir core module or Kwant. For the first time, the androgynous APAS-89 coupling socket (89 stands for the development year) was used, which was a further development of the APAS-75 docking device of the Apollo Soyuz test project . This system - unlike the usual Soyuz coupling system - enabled any spacecraft equipped with it to take on both the passive and the active part of a docking maneuver. The new docking system was developed to enable the Buran space shuttle to dock with the Mir space station. The Mir am Kristall module also had two APAS 89 nozzles. At the same time, special Soyuz spaceships were to be equipped with this coupling system in order to serve as a rescue system for the Buran during manned test missions. Such a Soyuz would wait on earth in readiness for action and, in the event of an emergency, would start with a crew of men, dock at the Buran, pick up the two test pilots of the space shuttle and bring them safely to earth or to Mir.

After the Buran program was stopped for financial reasons in 1992, the only spacecraft that had already been built was used to transport a regular crew to Mir. Soyuz TM-16 docked with it on the androgynous coupling socket of the "crystal" module. The APAS-89 coupling system was later used in the Shuttle Mir program , in some modules of the International Space Station (ISS) and the docking system of the space shuttle with which the space shuttle berths at the ISS.

Another special feature of the mission was the setting up of a 20-meter solar reflector shortly after the transport spaceship Progress M-15 had been cast down by rotation. With this reflector, sunlight was directed onto the earth in order to explore the possibility of artificial lighting of large construction sites from space. However, the reflector only partially unfolded.

The team's scientific program included astrophysical, material, biological, medical and technical examinations. In addition, 140 different earth exploration surveys were carried out. Among other things, it was about harvest forecasts, the search for raw material deposits, the observation of volcanic activities in the infrared range and the exploration of spawning grounds for certain fish species. During the mission, cosmic radiation was also measured, stars in the ultraviolet range were observed, studies of the high atmosphere (including ozone concentration ) were carried out and zodiacal light was studied. In addition, interplanetary dust clouds, X-ray sources and heavy elements (transuranic elements) in our galaxy were searched for. The behavior and possible applications of molten metals as well as their handling in weightlessness were also researched. In particular, melting and mixing processes under the influence of electrostatic and magnetic fields were observed. The subject of investigation was also the radiation exposure within the station and the testing of new thermal protection coatings.

With two exits on April 14th and June 18th (5:25 h and 4:33 h), the conversion of two solar cell surfaces from the crystal to the Kwant module was prepared. For this purpose, cables were laid and a control device was implemented to align the solar cell surfaces. A lost handle had to be attached to the loading arm used for the second exit. The station was then examined for visible external damage and a defective communication antenna was repaired.

Supplies of fuel, water and experimental material were delivered with the transport spacecraft Progress M-16 to M-18. Progress M-18 had a return capsule that transported around 150 kg of research material to Earth on July 4th. The two cosmonauts Manakow and Polishchuk were replaced at the end of July.

See also

Web links