back to article NASA chief in Moscow: 'We will fly again on a Russian Soyuz rocket'

NASA boss Jim Bridenstine says he's confident the next Russian Soyuz rocket carrying crew and gear to the International Space Station will launch "on schedule." That may come as a surprise to anyone who remembers as far back as October 11, the day Soyuz flight MS-10 was unexpectedly truncated while en route to the orbiting …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    "We have a really good idea of what happened."

    It done blewed all up, Ma!

  2. Jay Lenovo

    Renewed for next season

    The writers for this adventure have been ratcheting up the drama.

    Space travel feels edgy again.

  3. Chairman of the Bored

    What did the OP really mean to write?

    He wrote "bullish tone" but I think I might have misread it as "bull$hit tone"

    Administrators... I've known too many.

    -CB

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: What did the OP really mean to write?

      He knows something the rest of should know. He's a political appointee who is toeing the line his boss wants re Russia. Trump has been pro-Russia, so why would the statement in support of their space program surprise anyone? I am not claiming that he is wrong or doesn't have additional info concerning the safety of the systems involved, but I distrust all management types as soon as they start sounding different from their engineers and other O&M folks.

      1. Chairman of the Bored

        Re: What did the OP really mean to write?

        @AC, excellent points. I've definitely been in the position of trying to perform a full, comprehensive study into a failure and felt the pressure of having a Harvard Preschool of Management type declaring "we will be done by X" when we haven't even estimated a value for X.

        Failure investigations are difficult to plan for and budget, but hey - if you're just a politician everything looks easy.

  4. John Jennings

    Aww C'mon

    We know that rockets can become an unplanned firework. It has always been so. The Soyutz has been so reliable for so long, that it became boring. Time to get real though. They have been stupidly reliable for years.

    Find the fault and the steed rides again. Don't change it if it works.

    1. Persona Silver badge

      Yep. The Soyuz rocket has made 1700 flights over the last 50+ years so 6800 of the side boosters have managed to separate without hitting the centre core till now. The design is proven.

      1. Geekpride

        I agree also. The Soyuz has shown itself to be reliable and safe, it will definitely fly again. The December date may be a little optimistic, but there's two months to figure out if this was something simple and easily fixable or if it is more complex. No need to make any hasty decisions.

  5. dvvdvv

    Uncomfortable landing?

    It was a normal Soyuz landing. The reentry module ("the capsule" for the journos) might flip on its side in strong winds and on uneven terrain after the touchdown, but that's about it. It happens.

    1. phuzz Silver badge

      Re: Uncomfortable landing?

      They mean it was an uncomfortable trip down, because it was a fully ballistic descent, so they experienced more Gs than on a normal descent. You're right though that the actual landing itself was pretty standard (as far as anyone can tell from the details released).

      Except possibly from the strong smell of brown trousers inside the capsule ;)

  6. The Nazz

    If only .....

    Shame we can't enforce the next crew to consist of May, Hammond, Barnier, Juncker and Tusk (*)

    to make the point that "although we hate you politically, at least we can co-operate with each other to actually get things done".

    (*) would be remiss of me to suggest using a rocket known to be defective at launch.

    1. 's water music

      Re: If only .....

      Shame we can't enforce the next crew to consist of May, Hammond, Barnier, Juncker and Tusk (*)

      Seems to be missing the point to include May and Hammond and exclude Clarkson

      1. Captain Scarlet
        Joke

        Re: If only .....

        Clarkson probably punched someone and got fired before being allowed on.

  7. Omnillama
    Facepalm

    Holes in the wrong places?

    "A rapidly disassembling rocket is quite a bit more serious than someone blundering with a drill."

    Unless the rapid disassembly was the conclusion of a chain of events that started with someone blundering with a drill.

  8. Gotno iShit Wantno iShit

    Hyperbolae?

    giving him such confidence in a launch system that a few short days ago nearly resulted in tragedy.

    There are so fantastically many things that can go wrong I'm really not sure this launch got any closer to tragedy than a launch that achieves orbital insertion. A failure mode was anticipated, instruments detected it and mitigations in place performed faultlessly. I would imagine that pretty high on NASAs list of goals is something akin to 'Don't kill anyone', this launch achieved that goal.

    Had there been a catastrophic failure that they survived, stage 1 blowing as stage 2 departed for example, that would be a near tragedy. It appears this was simply something wasn't right in the lightup sequence of stage 2 so it didn't go ahead. That's just a malfunction not a near tragedy. Anomalies abort launches all the time, they aren't described as near tragedies. It just so happens that this stage 2 anomaly was detected after launch.

    1. 's water music

      Re: Hyperbolae?

      Given the context I'm not 100% clear what your typo was meant to say*

      * JK, obvs but forgive the attempt at an orbital mechanics weak joke

    2. Dom 3

      Re: Hyperbolae?

      "something wasn't right in the lightup sequence of stage 2" - the core stage (a.k.a. stage 2) lights up on the ground, same time as the boosters. But otherwise I'm with you.

  9. phuzz Silver badge

    Scheduling...

    I can imagine them launching an unmanned Soyuz up to the ISS on schedule (which would provide a viable lifeboat to the current crew as well as proving the vehicle), but I'll be surprised if the next crewed launch happens this year.

    1. MonsieurTM

      Re: Scheduling...

      Excatly. Everyone seems to forget that the crew in a Soyuz are spam-in-a-can until they open the hatch to the ISS. (Yes they give them stufff to do to make them feel busy: it is just psychological.) Everything else can be done automatically or as a backup remotely from the MKS in Moscow. Sending up an unmanned Soyuz would not even require the investigation to complete... Thus the time for the crew on board can be extended to at least 500 days. Yes they will get bored. Yes they will miss their families. But then that is space for you.

      Cosmonauts they are tough as nails; I expect astronauts too. I'd imagine they'd have viewed that the unplanned decent was at most disappointing regarding not reaching the ISS. No "brown trousers" in the slightest.

      1. Tom 7

        Re: Scheduling...

        Re extending their stay up their to 500 days. Not nice to have jelly bones when you do come back though is it?

        1. Spazturtle Silver badge

          Re: Scheduling...

          Astronauts who eat a healthy diet have shown zero loss of bone mass.

  10. Chozo
    Trollface

    Alternative News Translation

    To save the space station we have to fly the Soyuz or reveal the existence of the US secret space-plane program...

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