The Soyuz series spacecraft, which were promised a lunar future almost half a century ago, never left Earth orbit, but they gained a reputation as the most reliable passenger space transport. Let's look at them with the eyes of the ship's commander
The Soyuz-TMA spacecraft consists of an instrumentation compartment (IAC), a descent module (DA) and a service compartment (CO), and the SA occupies central part ship. Just as in an airliner during takeoff and climb we are instructed to fasten our seat belts and not leave our seats, cosmonauts are also required to be in their seats, be fastened and not take off their spacesuits during the stage of putting the ship into orbit and the maneuver. After the end of the maneuver, the crew, consisting of the ship's commander, flight engineer-1 and flight engineer-2, is allowed to take off their spacesuits and move to the living compartment, where they can eat and go to the toilet. The flight to the ISS takes about two days, the return to Earth takes 3-5 hours.
The Neptune-ME information display system (IDS) used in Soyuz-TMA belongs to the fifth generation of IDS for Soyuz series ships.
As is known, the Soyuz-TMA modification was created specifically for flights to the International space station, which involved the participation of NASA astronauts wearing larger spacesuits.
In order for astronauts to be able to get through the hatch connecting the household unit with the descent module, it was necessary to reduce the depth and height of the console, naturally, while maintaining its full functionality.
The problem was also that a number of instrument units used in previous versions of SDI could no longer be produced due to the disintegration of the former Soviet economy and the cessation of some production.
The Soyuz-TMA training complex, located at the Cosmonaut Training Center named after. Gagarin (Star City), includes a model of the descent vehicle and the service compartment.
Therefore, the entire SDI had to be fundamentally redesigned. The central element of the ship's SOI was an integrated control panel, hardware compatible with an IBM PC type computer.
Space remote control
The information display system (IDS) in the Soyuz-TMA spacecraft is called Neptune-ME. Currently there are more a new version SOI for the so-called digital Soyuz - ships of the Soyuz-TMA-M type. However, the changes affected mainly the electronic content of the system - in particular, the analogue telemetry system was replaced with a digital one. Basically, the continuity of the “interface” has been preserved.
1. Integrated control panel (InPU). In total, there are two InPUs on board the descent module - one for the ship’s commander, the second for Flight Engineer 1 sitting on the left.
2. Numeric keyboard for entering codes (for navigation through the InPU display).
3. Marker control unit (used to navigate the InPU subdisplay).
4. Electroluminescent display unit current state systems (TS).
5. RPV-1 and RPV-2 - manual rotary valves. They are responsible for filling the lines with oxygen from balloon cylinders, one of which is located in the instrumentation compartment, and the other in the descent vehicle itself.
6. Electro-pneumatic valve for oxygen supply during landing.
7. Special cosmonaut visor (SSC). During docking, the ship's commander looks at the docking port and observes the ship docking. To transmit the image, a system of mirrors is used, approximately the same as in a periscope on a submarine.
8. Motion control handle (DRC). With this help, the ship's commander controls the engines to give the Soyuz-TMA linear (positive or negative) acceleration.
9. Using the attitude control stick (OCL), the ship commander sets the rotation of the Soyuz-TMA around the center of mass.
10. The refrigeration-drying unit (HDA) removes heat and moisture from the ship, which inevitably accumulates in the air due to the presence of people on board.
11. Toggle switches for turning on the ventilation of spacesuits during landing.
12. Voltmeter.
13. Fuse block.
14. Button to start shutting down the ship after docking. The Soyuz-TMA resource is only four days, so it must be protected. After docking, power and ventilation are supplied by the orbital station itself.
Once a spacecraft or orbital station separates from the final stage of the rocket that carries it into space, it becomes the work of specialists at Mission Control.
The main control room, a spacious room lined with rows of consoles manned by specialists, is striking in its concentrated silence. It is disrupted only by the voice of the operator communicating with the astronauts. The entire front wall of the hall is occupied by three screens and several digital displays. On the largest, central screen there is a colorful map of the world. The cosmonauts' road ran along it like a blue sinusoid - this is what the projection of the spacecraft's orbit looks like, unfolded on a plane. A red dot moves slowly along the blue line - a ship in orbit. On the right and left screens we see a television image of the astronauts, a list of the main operations performed in space, orbital parameters, and crew work plans for the near future. Numbers glow above the screens. They are showing Moscow time and time on board the ship, the number of the next orbit, the day of the flight, the time of the next communication session with the crew.
Above one of the consoles there is a sign: “Head of the ballistics group.” Ballistics are in charge of movement spacecraft. This is what they are counting on exact time launch, the trajectory of insertion into orbit, according to their data, maneuvers of spacecraft are performed, their docking with orbital stations and descent to Earth. The head of ballistics monitors information coming from space. In front of him on a small television screen are columns of numbers. These are signals from the ship that have undergone complex electronic processing. computers(computer) of the Center.
Computers of different models make up a whole computing complex at the Center. They sort information, assess the reliability of each measurement, process and analyze telemetric indicators (see Telemechanics). Millions are performed every second at the Center mathematical operations, and every 3 seconds the computer updates the information on the consoles.
In the Main Hall there are people directly involved in flight control. These are the flight directors and separate groups specialists. In other areas of the Center there are so-called support groups. They plan a flight, find the best ways for execution decisions made, consult those sitting in the hall. The support groups include ballistics specialists, designers of various spacecraft systems, doctors and psychologists, scientists who developed scientific program flight, representatives of the command and measurement complex and the search and rescue service, as well as people who organize leisure time for the astronauts, prepare music programs for them, radio meetings with families, famous figures science and culture.
The control center not only manages the activities of the crew, monitors the functioning of spacecraft systems and assemblies, but also coordinates the work of numerous ground and ship-based tracking stations.
Why do we need many communication stations with space? The fact is that each station can maintain contact with a flying spaceship very briefly, since the ship quickly leaves the radio visibility zone of this station. Meanwhile, the volume of information exchanged through tracking stations between the ship and the Mission Control Center is very large.
Hundreds of sensors are installed on any spacecraft. They measure temperature and pressure, speed and acceleration, stress and vibration in individual structural components. Several hundred parameters characterizing the state of on-board systems are regularly measured. Sensors convert values in thousands various indicators into electrical signals, which are then automatically transmitted via radio to Earth.
All this information needs to be processed and analyzed as quickly as possible. Naturally, station specialists cannot do without the help of a computer. At tracking stations, a smaller part of the data is processed, and the bulk is processed by wire and radio - via artificial satellites Earth "Lightning" - transmitted to the Control Center.
When spacecraft pass over tracking stations, the parameters of their orbits and trajectories are determined. But at this time, not only the radio transmitters of the ship or satellite are working hard, but also their radio receivers. They receive numerous commands from Earth, from the Control Center. These commands turn on or off various systems and mechanisms of the spacecraft, their work programs change.
Let's imagine how a tracking station works.
A small star appears in the sky above the tracking station and moves slowly. Rotating smoothly, the multi-ton bowl of the receiving antenna follows it. Another antenna - a transmitter - is installed several kilometers from here: at this distance, the transmitters no longer interfere with the reception of signals from space. And this happens at every subsequent tracking station.
All of them are located in places over which space routes lie. The radio visibility zones of neighboring stations partially overlap each other. Having not yet completely left one zone, the ship already finds itself in another. Each station, having finished talking with the ship, “transfers” it to the other. The space relay continues outside our country.
Long before the flight of the spacecraft, floating tracking stations go out to sea - special vessels expeditionary fleet of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Ships of the “space” fleet are on watch in different oceans. It is headed by the scientific ship "Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin", 231.6 m long, 11 decks, 1250 rooms. The ship's four huge antenna bowls send and receive signals from space.
Thanks to tracking stations, we not only hear, but also see the inhabitants of the space house. Cosmonauts regularly conduct television reports, showing earthlings their planet, the Moon, scatterings of stars shining brightly in the black sky...
Flights on reusable spacecraft and space stations are becoming part of modern life, space TRAVEL is almost available. And, as a consequence of this, dreams about them become more common. A dream of this kind is often a simple FULFILLMENT OF A WISH, a dream to see the world from another point in space. However, it can also be a dream about ESCAPE, travel or searching. Obviously, the key to understanding such a dream is the purpose of the journey. Another way to understand the meaning of a dream concerns the method of travel. Were you in a spaceship or something more familiar to you (like your car)?
Dream about space travel is good material for research. You may dream that you are lost and groping for something in a vast vacuum.
In your dream you really wanted to be in outer space or did you just find yourself there? Did you feel safe while there?
::: How to control a spaceship: Instructions The Soyuz series ships, which were promised a lunar future almost half a century ago, never left Earth orbit, but they gained a reputation as the most reliable passenger space transport. Let's look at them with the eyes of the ship's commander.
The Soyuz-TMA spacecraft consists of an instrumentation compartment (IAC), a descent module (DA) and an accommodation compartment (CO), with the SA occupying the central part of the ship. Just as in an airliner during takeoff and climb we are instructed to fasten our seat belts and not leave our seats, cosmonauts are also required to be in their seats, be fastened and not take off their spacesuits during the stage of putting the ship into orbit and the maneuver. After the end of the maneuver, the crew, consisting of the ship's commander, flight engineer-1 and flight engineer-2, is allowed to take off their spacesuits and move to the living compartment, where they can eat and go to the toilet. The flight to the ISS takes about two days, the return to Earth takes 3-5 hours. The Neptune-ME information display system (IDS) used in Soyuz-TMA belongs to the fifth generation of IDS for Soyuz series ships. As is known, the Soyuz-TMA modification was created specifically for flights to the International Space Station, which presupposed the participation of NASA astronauts wearing larger spacesuits. In order for astronauts to be able to get through the hatch connecting the household unit with the descent module, it was necessary to reduce the depth and height of the console, naturally, while maintaining its full functionality. The problem was also that a number of instrument assemblies used in previous versions of SDI could no longer be produced due to the disintegration of the former Soviet economy and the cessation of some production. The Soyuz-TMA training complex, located at the Cosmonaut Training Center named after. Gagarin (Star City), includes a model of the descent vehicle and the service compartment. Therefore, the entire SDI had to be fundamentally redesigned. The central element of the ship's SOI was an integrated control panel, hardware compatible with an IBM PC type computer. Space remote control
The information display system (IDS) in the Soyuz-TMA spacecraft is called Neptune-ME. Currently, there is a newer version of SOI for the so-called digital Soyuz - ships of the Soyuz-TMA-M type. However, the changes affected mainly the electronic content of the system - in particular, the analog telemetry system was replaced with a digital one. Basically, the continuity of the “interface” has been preserved. 1. Integrated control panel (InPU). In total, there are two InPUs on board the descent module - one for the ship’s commander, the second for Flight Engineer 1 sitting on the left. 2. Numeric keyboard for entering codes (for navigation through the InPU display). 3. Marker control unit (used to navigate the InPU subdisplay). 4. Electroluminescent display unit for the current state of systems (TS). 5. RPV-1 and RPV-2 - manual rotary valves. They are responsible for filling the lines with oxygen from balloon cylinders, one of which is located in the instrumentation compartment, and the other in the descent vehicle itself. 6. Electro-pneumatic valve for oxygen supply during landing. 7. Special cosmonaut visor (SSC). During docking, the ship's commander looks at the docking station and observes the ship docking. To transmit the image, a system of mirrors is used, approximately the same as in a periscope on a submarine. 8. Motion control handle (DRC). With this help, the ship's commander controls the engines to give the Soyuz-TMA linear (positive or negative) acceleration. 9. Using the attitude control stick (OCL), the ship commander sets the rotation of the Soyuz-TMA around the center of mass. 10. The refrigeration-drying unit (HDA) removes heat and moisture from the ship, which inevitably accumulates in the air due to the presence of people on board. 11. Toggle switches for turning on the ventilation of spacesuits during landing. 12. Voltmeter. 13. Fuse box. 14. Button for launching conservation of the ship after docking. The Soyuz-TMA resource is only four days, so it must be protected. After docking, power and ventilation are supplied by the orbital station itself. The article was published in the magazine “Popular Mechanics”