| | |  | Qualification exams were successful for the Soyuz Taxi 2 crew | |
Claudie's Training Diary 3: testing times for the Andromède crew
5 October 2001
Well, it's done. The Soyuz Taxi 2 crew has passed all its flight
qualification exams successfully. Now we are waiting for the
official ceremony on 11 October at Star City. That's when the
Joint Approval Commission - it's made up of representatives from
Rosaviakosmos, RKK Energia, Star City and various medical
organizations - will announce the results. But we know them already.
Our operational qualification involved many different tests.
First, there was the manual approach of the spacecraft during the
last five kilometres to the ISS. If there is a breakdown in the
automatic Kours radar system, the flight engineer - that's me -
moves into the upper orbital compartment, sets up the backup laser
measuring system and points it at the ISS through one of the
viewports. Then I read off speed and distance data to the
commander, still in his pilot's seat, which allows him to make the
approach to the station safely. It's a kind of very precise ballet
between the engineer and the commander, which we spent many hours
practising; everything went well.
Then there was manual docking. For that, the commander plays the
principal role. He controls the spacecraft's attitude jets and
thrusters, while the engineer keeps a lookout and pays attention
to the timing. No problems there, either.
| | Operational qualification involved different tests | |
Then there was another exam - individual this time - for the
commander and the flight engineer. Either of us might have to fly
the Soyuz manually from atmospheric re-entry until the parachutes
deploy, if the automatic systems fail or if the spacecraft's
trajectory is outside the autopilot's limits. On board, there is a
useful little box that gives emergency control of the Soyuz roll
rate, which adjusts the return trajectory and helps us find the
best compromise between acceleration forces and impact point
error: the idea is to keep accelerations below 4g and to land
within 10 km of our target.
Both commander and engineer are trained in these manual procedures
in a static simulator, but we had to pass the exam in a centrifuge
- though we ourselves controlled the acceleration. We both came
through OK.
The last test - the hardest and the the longest, too - is the full
mission simulation. That involves just about everything: we had to
go through every step of the mission. Orbital insertion; the first
flight checks; orbital correction manoeuvres; approach; docking;
undocking; descent. It took about ten hours, in our spacesuits,
watched over by a team of experts who took turns devising more and
more complex breakdowns and problems to throw at us. We came out
of the simulator haggard and exhausted. But we still had a full
debriefing session ahead of us before those same experts, who made
us explain and justify every action we had taken.
| | Underwater training in Star City's pool prepares Claudie Haigneré for spacewalks | |
It was a tough one. But we came out of it well -- top marks, in
fact. I am lucky that I have no problems with the Russian
language: you can't afford to miss even half a word in these
situations, where everything depends on cool heads, analysis,
foresight and fast decisions.
A few days before the full mission simulation, the medical board
had passed us fit for flight. After that - it would have been
Tuesday, 2 October - we organized a little party with our
instructors to celebrate. Then we left for a few days'
well-deserved break with our families in a rest centre not far
from Moscow. It was a delight to enjoy the golden colours of the
Russian autumn, as well as the presence of our loved ones - and
the chance to relax.
In a few hours, we will be leaving for Baikonur for the first
checkout of our spacecraft. The crew is ready: now we will see
whether the equipment is ready, too.
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