Soyuz Ballistic Re-entry 300 Miles Off Course

call-me-kenneth writes "Soyuz TMA-11, carrying a crew of three returning from the ISS, unexpectedly followed a high-G ballistic re-entry trajectory and ended up landing 300 miles off-course. The crew, including Commander Peggy Whitson and cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, are reportedly in good health. Soyuz capsules have previously saved the lives of the crew even after severe malfunctions that might have led to the loss of a less robust vehicle."

hmm

[DanWS6]

[insert "in soviet russia" joke here]

How far exactly?

[MagdJTK]

According to the first paragraph of the article, the distance by which they were off was 400km, which Slashdot claims is 300 miles.

Perhaps the calculations were done by the same person who worked out the re-entry trajectory?

Genie in a Bottle

[skeeto]

They didn't come back with any beautiful, belly-buttonless genies, did they?

Horse shoes and hand gernades

[edwardpickman]

Hey give them some credit they hit the right planet.

Re:Ballistic trajectory?

[MopedJesus]

The "ballistic trajectory" seems to be an euphemism for coming down like a rock.

A jet mechanic friend of mine is fond of the phrase "the glide-ratio of a rock".

Re:I'm impressed

[JockTroll]

Spoken like a true loserboy nerd. For Soyuz capsules, ballistic reentry is a viable backup reentry mode that is planned for. Lifting re-entry is preferred because it greatly reduces the G-forces experienced by the crew, but the craft CAN re-enter on a ballistic trajectory. Vostok, Voshkod and Mercury capsules all re-entered ballistically. TMA-10 (october 2007) also made a ballistic reentry.

So shut the shithole you're talking out of, loserboys. For all your bragging about "science" and "technology", you know jack. You only look at the pictures while we jocks beat you up and shit on your faces.

ObSovietRussiaJoke

[FlyByPC]

...In Soviet Russia, questionable navigation systems report on *you*!

Re:Ballistic trajectory?

[Fishead]

According to the voice data recorder, the last comment before the course change was:

"Screw you guys, I'm going home."

Re:sort of off-topic

[ozmanjusri]

Out of curiosity, how does that statement make me a foreigner?

You've made an intelligent point without threatening anyone.

That's downright unamerican.

Re:How far exactly?

[call-me-kenneth]

Story submitter here... I used 300 miles because the NASA press release (the second link in the story) says:

"The landing was approximately 295 miles from the expected landing site"

...which I rounded to 300 to try to make the story sound more exciting than it really is, just in order to flatter my inadequate sense of identity and self-esteem. Little did I reckon on the elite mental arithmetic of the Slashdot readership! I hang my head in shame.

Re:Astronauts.

[NewbieProgrammerMan]

Stories like this remind me of the huge BALLS it takes to strap yourself onto a rocket and fly straight into orbit, and then come back down again.

Maybe you should say huge nads or something else that's more unisex, considering both of the astronauts in this case were women. :)

Re:Ballistic trajectory?

[arivanov]

No.

Serezha, davai vruchnuyu!!!

Re:sort of off-topic

[Jesus_666]

That's right, we Europeans are above randomly threatening people. And if anyone disagrees I'll smash his face in with a brick!

Re:Heavyside Layers

[call-me-kenneth]

Alan Shepard hit over 11g during re-entry, and he didn't pass out and could still hit switches.

Yeah? Well Chuck Norris could hit 12G and wouldn't need to hit the switches, he'd just look at them and they'd switch themselves out of pure fear.

Re:sort of off-topic

[hey!]

Spoken like a European.

Americans know that violence never truly solves anything, unless it is caught on camera.

Re:Ballistic trajectory?

[garlicbready]

I'm sure it was
"Nyet Nyet, metric I tell you metric"

Re:Astronauts.

[Crypto Gnome]

Maybe you should say huge nads or something else that's more unisex, considering both of the astronauts in this case were women. :)

No, he's just met some female russian cosmonauts.

Re:Ballistic trajectory?

[ozbird]

Douglas Adams said it best: "The spaceships hung in the air in exactly the same way that bricks don't."