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| News IK1SLD June 15, 2000 |
Tnx SPACE.COM for this info
Mir Crew Closes Hatch, Prepares for Return to Earth
The
Mir space station crew sealed the hatches to the orbital outpost Thursday after entering the Soyuz capsule that will return them to Earth, wrapping up a 73-day mission.Cosmonauts Sergei Zaletin and Alexander Kalery have occupied the Russian station
since April 6 on the first privately financed piloted spaceflight. They closed the doors separating Mir and their Soyuz TM-30 spacecraft around 2:17 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (18:17 GMT).The crew will take a three-hour ride to Earth aboard the 7-ton Soyuz after it undocks from the station. After verifying the sealed-off station is airtight, the cosmonauts donned special safety suits equipped with an emergency air supply, in case their spacecraft loses pressure during its fiery descent.
The next mission event is set for 4:10 p.m. EDT on Thursday (20:10 GMT) when the crew closes the hatch separating their Soyuz TM-30 spacecraft reentry capsule its expendable logistics section.
Mission Control, located in Korolev, Russia, will command the crew to undock from the station around 5:22 p.m. EST (21:22 GMT).
The cosmonauts are expected to touch down at 8:44 p.m. EDT on Thursday (Friday, 00:44 GMT). Check SPACE.com for the latest updates on the reentry and landing.
The crew started its final day in orbit on Thursday and worked to complete
final chores before abandoning the space station.Deorbiting -- a crucial phase
After pulling away from the outpost, the cosmonauts will fire the
Soyuz's engine for 255 seconds to deorbit. Immediately after the maneuver, the reentry capsule holding the crew will separate from the Soyuz's other two sections -- an instrument module and a logistics module, both of which will burn up in the atmosphere.A critical phase in the crew's return home comes when their bell-shaped capsule enters Earth's atmosphere at the speed of almost 4.3 miles (7 kilometers) per second. A bubble of plasma caused by air friction will completely envelop the spacecraft, preventing ground communications with the crew inside.
Parachute to deploy
As the craft slows down during its 45-minute descent, a parachute will deploy at an altitude of about 6 miles (10 kilometers) at 8:29 p.m. EDT on Thursday (Friday, 00:29 GMT).
Shortly before landing, a heat shield at the bottom of the capsule will separate, exposing solid-fuel retro-engines that fire a few feet above the ground to soften the touchdown. If all goes as planned, the Soyuz capsule will land around 8:44 p.m. EDT (Friday, 00:44 GMT) southeast of the town of Arkalyk in Kazakhstan.Netherlands-based
MirCorp, a private company that rented Mir from its original operator -- RKK Energia -- financed the current mission to the station. The current crew was the 28th long-duration expedition to Mir since the first element of the station was launched in 1986.Tnx SPACE.COM for this info
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