Future of International Space Station relies on Russian Soyuz operations. Photo credit/NASA photo
Top NASA and independent safety experts told a House oversight panel on Wednesday they endorse Russian efforts to overcome the Aug. 24 failure of a Soyuz rocket carrying a Progress supply craft to the International Space Station and that they believe the launching of multinational crews aboard a similar booster can safely resume in mid-November.
If the recovery effort is successful, NASA’s space station program can put aside concerns the U. S.managed 15 nation orbiting science laboratory may have to be de-staffed while further troubleshooting is under way.
The late August loss of the Soyuz-U booster pointed out the pitfalls of a decision by U. S.policy makers to retire NASA’s space shuttle in July — at least four to five years before U. S. commercial crew capabilities are ready to take on the role of launching and returning astronauts to the station. However, Russia has responded quickly, identifying a plausible root cause for the loss and instituted a recovery strategy, which the federal space agency Roscosmos and the investigating commission has openly shared, Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA’s associate administrator for human exploration and operations, told the House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee.
“NASA is confident that our Russian partners identified the most likely failure cause and a sound return-to-flight plan,” Gerstenmaier testified.
His sentiments were echoed by Thomas Stafford, the former Apollo astronaut and aerospace consultant who chairs NASA’s International Space Station Advisory Committee, and Joe Dyer, who leads NASA Administrator Charles Bolden’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel.
The Soyuz-U, under third stage power, was just over 300 seconds into flight when the engine shut down, sending the spacecraft plummeting into the rugged mountainous region of Altai.
A Russian investigating commission identified the cause as a contaminant that blocked a fuel line or a stabilizer valve in a propulsion line leading to a gas generator. The contamination was most likely introduced during an inspection following an engine hot fire acceptance test, Gerstenmaier told the panel.
A Russian Soyuz crew approaches the International Space Station to dock. Photo Credit/NASA TV
Russia’s recovery strategy includes the introduction of additional quality control inspectors and a video tape documentation during critical component assembly activities, he said. Additionally, 18 already manufactured third stage engines were recalled and inspected with no sign of contamination, Gerstenmaier said.
NASA’s own independent verification team checked the results and concurred with the Russian findings, he told the lawmakers.
Currently,Russia plans an Oct. 30 launching of another Progress supply ship. If the launch and docking go well, Roscosmos will be ready to launch a U. S.and Russian crew on n a Soyuz FG booster on Nov. 14. The arrival of the newcomers at the station on Nov. 16 will restore the orbital outpost to a crew of six astronauts.
That will prevent the unwanted de-staffing of the space station on Nov. 22, when the station’s current crew of three U.S., Russian and Japanese astronauts is scheduled to return to Earth.
Their Soyuz capsule, which has been docked to the station since June, is nearing the end of its certified orbital operational life. Further delay would push the descent into a period of harsh winter conditions in the remote landing zone in Kazakhstan, a circumstance U.S. and Russian recovery forces believe is too risky for astronauts de-conditioned by months of weightlessness.
Staffordtold lawmakers the Soyuz disruption should have minimal efforts on the long term use of the space station for a wide range of research activities.
He credited NASA’s final shuttle voyage, a July station supply mission, with sufficiently outfitting the orbital outpost to bridge the temporary suspension of Progress supply flights.
“It appears to the ASAP that the cause of the third stage failure has been identified and that activities are under way for a safe return-to-flight in time to preclude a de-crewing of the International Space Station,” Dyer told the lawmakers.