The Soyuz TMA-11 capsule lays on it's side on the Kazakh Step. Expedition 16 Commander Peggy Whitson, Flight Engineer and Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko and South Korean So-yeon Yi landed their Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft April 19, 2008 in central Kazakhstan to complete 192 days in space for Whitson and Malenchenko and 11 days in orbit for Yi.
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Astronauts Could Have Burnt Alive
Soyuz TMA-11 capsule is to be delivered to Energia Corporation today, April 23, 2008. Its Saturday landing was very rough and could have ended by tragedy. A similar spaceship is docked at the International Space Station (ISS). It is being tested now and is expected to carry the crew back to Earth in October.
The landing of Soyuz TMA-11 capsule carrying Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson and South Korea's first astronaut So-yeon Yi could have ended by the death of the crew, said well-informed sources with Russia’s space community.
“The descending module wasn’t flying in correct direction at initial braking stage in the dense atmosphere,” the source explained. “With standard landing, the spaceship is flying with its heat screen forward. But the descending capsule of Soyuz TMA-11 was flying with its hatch up-front. The hatch burnt considerably as a result. If the spaceship hadn't independently turned to the right position, the chance of the hatch burnout would have been very high.
The crew could have burnt alive. What’s more, this direction of descending spaceship could have destroyed the covers of parachute boots, inevitably leading to the tragic end as well. The crew suffered a great stress. Professional astronauts Yuri Malenchenko and Peggy Whitson realized what was going on, said officers taking part in the rescue operation.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Apr. 23, 2008
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