
If a Soyuz capsule lands in front of you, follow these instructions [pdf] - marvel_boy
http://www.spaceref.com/iss/soyuz/SCLSaB.edit.pdf
======
ringshall
Reminds me of a charming story from Yuri Gagarin's flight:

"Both he and the spacecraft landed via parachute 26 km (16 mi) south west of
Engels, in the Saratov region at 51.270682°N 45.99727°E. It was 280 km to the
west of the planned landing site (near Baikonur).

A farmer and her daughter observed the strange scene of a figure in a bright
orange suit with a large white helmet landing near them by parachute. Gagarin
later recalled, "When they saw me in my space suit and the parachute dragging
alongside as I walked, they started to back away in fear. I told them, don't
be afraid, I am a Soviet citizen like you, who has descended from space and I
must find a telephone to call Moscow!"

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vostok_1#Reentry_and_landing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vostok_1#Reentry_and_landing)

~~~
sandworm101
Check out this strange pic:

[https://vintagespace.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/ivan-
ivanov...](https://vintagespace.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/ivan-
ivanovich.jpg)

"MAKET" means dummy or doll. This is the dummy pilot used in a test flight.
The word is there so that any well-meaning farmer who finds the craft won't
start cutting anything open in a rescue attempt, possibly destroying test
data.

I've also seen, but cannot find online, pictographs on soviet spacecraft meant
to inform possibly illiterate rescuers that real people are inside and
probably need help. Similarly, look at any plane with ejector seats. There are
usually signs or diagrams explaining how to pop the canopy and even trigger
the ejection seat of a crashed plane (usually by means of a rope).

~~~
usefulcat
Why would it be a good idea to trigger the ejection seat of a crashed plane?

~~~
sandworm101
Everything is on fire, or about to be. The unconscious pilot is strapped into
the seat. Better out now than in for even a few more seconds.

Also, I guess, one could use the procedure to render safe and unoccupied seat
rather than leave it in the wreckage for some kid to play with. The seat alone
doesn't have a proper chute. So it wouldn't be the safest thing for a SAR team
to do if their helicopter was parked nearby.

------
sandworm101
Reminds me of a first responder briefing I heard at an air show. The first job
if a fighter was on the ground with a pilot aboard, after opening the canopy,
the first two guys on the scene were to hold the pilots arms down. Nothing
else mattered. Should he wake up and reach for those ejection handles ... bad
things.

~~~
LeifCarrotson
I suppose that it would be theoretically easy to disable the ejection handles
when the plane had the canopy open, was not moving, and/or was on the ground.
But if the plane was damaged and the sensors or circuits that managed that
decision were destroyed, the pilot couldn't eject.

They decided to err on the side of allowing the pilot to eject, possibily in a
state of panic or confusion, under conditions that could be fatal. They did
this instead of preventing this death caused by human error but opening the
remote possibility that the best redundant system they could devise would fail
and leave the pilot unable to eject. That says something interesting about
their safety philosophy.

~~~
sandworm101
There are times when a pilot may want to eject from a stationary plane on the
ground, fire being the big one. Of course this is only true of modern "zero-
zero" ejection powerful enough to get the pilot under parachute without any
altitude/speed. But if the plane has already crashed, the pilot probably has a
damaged neck/spine already and ejecting might be lethal.

------
GeorgeRichard
I was in the Soviet Union for a couple of weeks at the end of the 60's. Our
Intourist guide took us to see an exhibition having to do with the Soviet
space effort. One of the exhibits was a spherical module which, given the
date, I imagine was part of a Soyuz-A. The thing that struck me, and that I
would be interested in having confirmed (or not) by someone knowledgeable, was
that part of the thing (a porthole surround?) was made of/trimmed with wood.
Could this be the case or is my memory playing tricks on me?

~~~
cromulent
A Google search turned up that the Chinese have used a heat shield made of
impregnated oak, and perhaps the Russians used a cork one.

Some speculation:

[http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=11075.25;wa...](http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=11075.25;wap2)

------
bonniemuffin
I enjoyed the knocking code:

One knock or silence (.) = “We are bad.”

I'm not sure you need a translation to know that no knocks = we might not be
doing so great in this capsule here.

~~~
V-2
Well, clearly it should be split:

One knock (.) = “We are bad.”

Silence ( ) = “We are unconscious or dead.”

~~~
Retric
Don't forget aware, but paralyzed.

~~~
V-2
Yeah, let's not leave these poor folks in confusion about the protocol

------
nothis
Those deploying antennas sound absolutely terrifying and deadly.

~~~
Keyframe
Yeah, what's up with that?

~~~
userbinator
Things that need to stay _very_ secure, but also quickly detach when needed,
are usually attached with explosive bolts. Much simpler and far more reliable
than other means.

~~~
4ad
But why do they need to detach at all?

~~~
userbinator
They protect the antennae during re-entry, otherwise they'd probably melt in
the heat. If you read carefully you'll see that it's the antenna covers that
explode, not necessarily the antennae themselves.

~~~
CWuestefeld
Yes, but why? Why not just leave them attached there?

~~~
fluxquanta
A basic quarter wave VHF antenna is about a foot and a half long (assuming
this is the type of antenna used). A foot and a half long piece of wire can't
be hanging off of a capsule coming through the atmosphere without burning off,
as others have stated. It would need to be protected for re-entry.

When it comes time to use it after the capsule lands, it can't be enclosed
within a metal capsule which would undoubtedly act as a Faraday shield
preventing the RF from getting outside. So the protection has to come off.

------
cshimmin
What is a "150_____ mile radius"? What goes in the blank? "Nautical" vs.
"imperial roman"?

~~~
gaur
Note also the strange spacing and boxing of "side", apparently for no reason.

Also: "there is no hazard-if both risers are still attached". What's a
"hazard-if"? Or do they mean to use a dash here instead of a hyphen?

This document looks like it was typeset by an incompetent temp in 1995. Really
goes to show that the cutting edge of space research is in many aspects at the
mercy of the lowest bidder (literally and figuratively).

~~~
CWuestefeld
Heck, what's a riser? I mean, I am familiar with the term, but I have no way
to identify what a Soyuz capsule's risers are, so ho do I know if they're
attached or not?

------
Ao7bei3s
Interesting.

> There is a low level radiation hazard area clearly marked on the bottom of
> the capsule

Whats this?

~~~
flashman
Cobalt-60. Here is some more information on the Kaktus gamma-ray altimeter in
Soyuz landers: [http://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/spaceflight/reentry-
desce...](http://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/spaceflight/reentry-descent-
landing/soft-landing-on-kaktus/)

~~~
blueintegral
Wow, a radar that uses ionizing radiation is a crazy idea.

~~~
atroyn
Seems ingenious - it's an active system that uses entirely passive components.
No power draw, and will always work.

~~~
avian
I'm pretty sure the receiver can't be passive. If the receiver doesn't work
due to power failure or malfunction, what good is a functioning transmitter?

It would be interesting to know why they decided to go this way instead of a
more conventional radar. Soyuz is already full of RF equipment for
communications and docking procedures. Adding a landing radar probably
wouldn't add that much to overall complexity. It might be that gamma
backscatter is more consistent over expected landing surfaces than microwave
reflectivity.

Also, I wonder how they shield their detector from direct gamma rays from
source so that they don't overwhelm the weak backscatter signal. They can't
have much in the way of heavy shielding.

~~~
VLM
It could theoretically land anywhere on the planet in an accident situation,
some freaked out country could fire up the radar jammers, would be terrible
bad luck to land next to a weather radar, even if nothing bad happens it'll
have Russian military aircraft loitering around the LZ and now you have the
technical problem of proving every Russian aircraft radar ever made won't
interfere with the landing system. I would guess if the rockets fire early the
astronauts will be severely hurt (killed?) on landing so not firing early
would be a priority. They didn't make it triple redundant for fun...

Also without any information its very hard to tell if this is just good old
fashioned ALARA at work, or if its a real threat. On one hand a powerful
source would require a smaller detector and size and mass are expensive in
spacecraft. Then again the crew needs shielding from the source and they're
using gammas so source intensity is also not cheap. My guess is its a
combination of ALARA principle at work combined with some first responders
might have radiological monitoring and that will detect it, causing a freak
out unless previously warned.

------
zamalek
For non-rescue personnel (the rest of us), it looks like the best thing you
can do is simply make sure that nobody gets closer than 150 feet. If you're
certain that aerials are deployed, you can approach (from the FRONT/pointy-
end) and knock five or more times. One or no knocks means that you need to
phone the authorities after retreating to a safe distance - there is nothing
that _you_ can do for them (special tools are needed to crack it open).

~~~
lukashed
Though,

> There are three tools safety-wired to the outside edge of the bottom of the
> capsule. They can be easily removed in both upright and side landing
> scenarios

~~~
zamalek
Ah, I missed that.

They seem very clear about how dangerous the thing is, so unless you're
absolutely and utterly certain that it's completely safe, keep away. Don't add
more casualties.

~~~
Luc
I suppose some people just want to be ready for any event.

------
nobleach
Information that would have been more useful YESTERDAY!!

------
erickhill
If any capsule lands in front of me, and I survive the impact zone, I'm
looking to see if Sandra Bullock needs any help.

~~~
wyldfire
She'll need it. Recovering micro-g is rough stuff.

~~~
foota
For any context look at the video of the astronaut (almost said spaceman ;a;)
that landed the other day.

------
eps
Has any of the Soyuz capsules ever landed outside of Russian/Soviet controlled
territory? Does anyone know?

~~~
iSnow
None, ever. Unless you count the Chinese capsules that are heavily influenced
by the Soyuz design and of course land in China.

------
jrockway
> NOT FOR RELEASE TO MEDIA

Oh well.

------
laserSpaceJets
Do not _taunt_ Happy Fun Ball.

