back to article Grim-faced cosmonaut in ISS manual docking nail-biter

European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Tim Peake, NASA 'naut Tim Kopra and cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko safely boarded the International Space Station yesterday following a tense manual docking of their Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft with the orbiting outpost. The trio blasted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11:03 GMT. …

  1. Efros

    правильный материал

    Flying by the seat of your pants, even now it seems that the original objections that the 60s astronauts had to no human control of space vehicles stand up.

    1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

      Re: правильный материал

      Digital Apollo: Human and Machine in Spaceflight

      1. Efros

        Re: правильный материал

        "Spam in a Can"

        Thanks for that link, I couldn't for the life of me remember the phrase that Yaeger came out with.

      2. imanidiot Silver badge

        Re: правильный материал

        Thanks for that link Destroy All Monsters. Now I have a new book to read if I can get my hands on it.

        1. notowenwilson

          Re: правильный материал

          Amazon.

          http://amzn.com/0262134977

          Available on Kindle too. Read it, you won't be disappointed.

      3. notowenwilson

        Re: правильный материал

        Digital Apollo is a brilliant book. Well worth a read. There's another one called Moon Lander by Thomas Kelly which covers the development of the Lunar Module that is equally brilliant. The two books overlap somewhat but are both well worth a read.

        http://amzn.com/1588342735

  2. Quortney Fortensplibe
    Facepalm

    How Dare He!

    Has the man learnt nothing from present day zzz-elebrity culture? Doesn't he know that, whenever someone from the press points a camera at you, it's imperative that you adopt a permanent inane, plastic-toothed grin?

    And just look at that frumpy space-suit! Would it be too much to ask that he show just a *little bit* of cleavage?

    1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

      Re: How Dare He!

      He is Russian. You are quoting the wrong rule-book. You should be quoting the Russian children's song:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MUqtvaT5bw

      От улыбки станет всем светлей!!!

      In any case - I was right, that he knows something the other ones don't :)

    2. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      Re: How Dare He!

      That smile at the camera thing isn't new. A friend has a book about photography - and it talks about the etiquette and expectations of being photographed, and how that changes the results.

      One of his examples is a picture of a woman standing on a beach, with a big smile on her face, but at her feet is the body of her husband who's just died of a heart attack. Someone took the picture, and she just automatically smiled for the camera. Presumably if she'd just bumped him off, she'd have done a better job of hiding her emotions...

      Or there's the pictures of the troops returning from the evacuation at Dunkirk. Again lots of them smiling and waving to the camera. But the ones they weren't aware of show them looking like shit, as you'd be if you'd just lost a huge battle, retreated for a week and then been stuck on a beach under constant air attack for another one, only to then have to wade out to a small ship and get evacuated - all while still under constant aerial assault.

      Also evidence from a lot of the troops was that they felt ashamed of themselves, and many expected to be booed on their return, not cheered. So they weren't really in a smiling mood.

      Anyway, if you smile all the time, people will wonder what you're up to.

    3. thames
      Joke

      Re: How Dare He!

      Of course he's not smiling. Being Russian, he probably has a massive hangover from the night before.

  3. Locky

    What does success look like?

    I'm pretty sure I read that a NASA space project has circa 600,000 components, and they class a success as 99.9% of those working, so you expect around 600 things to fail

    So if I was Tim, I'd have smashed 599 egg cups on the way to the launch pad.

  4. Alister

    Yuri Malenchenko's serious demeanour expained

    So you're really wanting us to believe that he knew the Kurs Rendezvous System was going to break, 5 hours before it did??

    If so, he should quit being a Cosmonaut, he can make much more money as a fortune teller.

    1. Eponymous Cowherd

      Re: Yuri Malenchenko's serious demeanour expained

      I think the intimation was that he knew it was already broken and would have to dock manually.

    2. Voland's right hand Silver badge

      Re: Yuri Malenchenko's serious demeanour expained

      The force is strong in this one.

    3. Anonymous Blowhard
      Pint

      Re: Yuri Malenchenko's serious demeanour expained

      Maybe he's thinking about months in a metal box with no beer?

      He deserves one when he gets back though >

      1. Bronek Kozicki

        Re: Yuri Malenchenko's serious demeanour expained

        force has got nothing to do with it. He is Russian,he knows something has got to be broken and signed off as working anyway, because that's how things work.

        And I am not entirely joking, so no Joke Alert here.

        1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

          Re: Yuri Malenchenko's serious demeanour expained

          And I am not entirely joking, so no Joke Alert here.

          No need to. Anyone who understands Russian also understands the full meaning of : "Серёжа, давай вручную"

          It sounds very mundane and boring when translated: "Sergey, switch to manual". The attitude to life, universe and all the rest is lost in translation.

  5. Dan 55 Silver badge

    One thing I learned on Elite...

    ... never rely on the docking computer.

    1. Eponymous Cowherd
      Happy

      Re: One thing I learned on Elite...

      That was in the bad old days when it would regularly pancake you into a platform.

      These days its pretty faultless unless you are stupid enough to come in from the back end of an Orbis station and expect it to guide you through the hab ring spokes.

      Personally I use it only for the final landing. Usually blast through the mail slot at full speed to avoid scans, then decelerate to a stop to kick in the DC for the final landing. Nailing the mailslot at 300m/s in a Clipper loaded with naughty stuff is invigorating.

    2. Crisp

      Re: One thing I learned on Elite...

      Docking computers are a waste of money.

      If you can't dock without losing your paintwork, you shouldn't be in space.

      - Paraphrased from The Dark Wheel.

      1. Gordon 10
        Paris Hilton

        Re: One thing I learned on Elite...

        How is Elite Dangerous getting on now all the bad publicity has died down?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: One thing I learned on Elite...

          Yes, Elite has come on a lot, very enjoyable :) imo

          1. John G Imrie

            Re: One thing I learned on Elite...

            I'm going to spend this weekend perfecting my planetary landings

        2. Adam 52 Silver badge

          Re: One thing I learned on Elite...

          "How is Elite Dangerous getting on now all the bad publicity has died down?"

          Don't know. Can't play it. By the time all the mandatory downloads have finished my small window of leisure time is over. Biggest waste of money ever when you include the software, graphics card and power supply for the graphics card (and I bought a Vista PC and an Asus Transformer).

          1. Eponymous Cowherd

            Re: One thing I learned on Elite...

            Runs fine on an XBox One

      2. Eponymous Cowherd
        Facepalm

        Re: One thing I learned on Elite...

        Oh, I can dock without one.

        I just can't be arsed to for the sake of a Class 1 slot.

  6. Marc 25

    I'm pretty sure that travelling to space involves many opportunities for instant death.

    The first 30 seconds of the launch sequence.

    Flying your spaceship (which is travelling a 7.2KM per second) near anything else flying at similar speeds.

    Opening Airlocks.

    Walking around outside.

    Just being there.

    Coming home.

    All of these strike me as the most obvious way to tempt fate, and there's plenty of others.

    I'm pretty sure any seasoned vet might maintain a steely face, knowing that he's just increasing his odds even more by making yet another trip up there.

    1. Martin Budden Silver badge
      Joke

      And choking on a peanut... easy to do in micro-gravity.

      (was going to use the beer icon, to wash down the peanut, but sadly no beer in space)

  7. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
    Trollface

    Grim, eh!

    Remember he comes from the region of the guys who ACTUALLY DROVE into Berlin (then had FUN)

    Also not a Child of the Magenta.

    But it's apparently actually a cultural thing. Russians think westerners are fucking clowns.

    1. Intractable Potsherd

      Re: Grim, eh!

      I'm married to a Slav - she also thinks smiling and laughing are signs of insincerity and that all British signs of politeness are insincere (such as saying "please" and "thank you" often). She doesn't/can't/won't understand that she comes across a miserable and constantly trying to pick an argument, and wonders why she doesn't get the cooperation from others that she wants/needs. She isn't willing to accept that "when in Rome, do as the Romans do", despite having lived in Britain for 12 years and spent several years in the USA before that. We do live in Scotland now, though, and she does seem more at home - the locals make my native Yorkshire-folk look excitable by comparison.

    2. This post has been deleted by its author

  8. Yet Another Hierachial Anonynmous Coward
    Pint

    Wot, no beer?

    Can't believe none of my fellow commentards have yet raised a pint of festive beer to the lucky trio and all the guys and gals that got them there. Long may they inspire future generations into the worlds of science and technology. In an age when space launches get little publicity except when things go wrong it's good to see the mainstream media having a field day on this one.

    Even my 91 y.o. "not quite with it anymore" father in law was intently watching his TV yesterday.....

  9. Killing Time

    Two and half hours to open the door

    That's got to be a temperature matching issue with the seals themselves. It's surprising the extent that materials shrink and distort at very low temperatures. Pressurization should be relatively quick once the seals are made.

    Makes a mockery of the entertainment industry view where characters pop in and out of air locks at their leisure.

    Space is difficult...

    1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

      Re: Two and half hours to open the door

      It's probably settle-down time, check all the connections, didn't-you-forget-something, what-does-mission-control-say, review of what occurred etc.

      My olden skipper said that when on sea, you have to work on shiptime, which is slower than the one used by landlubbers, otherwise shit will hit the fan. spacetime is probably even more redshifted.

      1. Roger Greenwood
        Pint

        Re: Two and half hours to open the door

        Mr Hadfield suggested it may have been due to getting as much data as possible from the docking system before they shut it down, to try and diagnose the fault. Raising my glass to the engineers who make it happen.

        1. Killing Time

          Re: Two and half hours to open the door

          Hmmm... I heard Mr Hadfield filling transmission time last night, I didn't really buy it then and I don't buy it now. I also heard Helen Sharman suggest she had waited a similar period for the airlock on her trip.

          I know the Soyuz spacecraft is getting on a bit but I would have thought they have progressed to computers, sensors and log files to gather data? And to keep it even after the the system is 'shutdown', isn't this the business most of us are in?

          Three cosmonauts in a box with little else to do other than waiting for the door to open, two and half hours, how much data are they going to accrue and voicenet back to base assuming the aforesaid data logging is not in place?

          Even if they are scientists and astronauts, my enquiring mind always challenges statements made under pressure (live tv), so sorry, to me the simplest explanation is waiting for materials to stabilise and make a gas tight seal.

          1. Dom 3

            Re: Two and half hours to open the door

            Twas ever thus, e.g. here with the shuttle:

            http://www.space.com/11703-nasa-shuttle-endeavour-space-station-docking.html

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Two and half hours to open the door

              Just wait until Space Spetznaz, Space Boarding and Microgravity Systema have become a thing.

              Then it will take 5 seconds.

    2. Gene Cash Silver badge

      Re: Two and half hours to open the door

      No, it's take a pressure reading - wait a while (couple hours) - take another pressure reading and if it hasn't dropped excessively, you can open the hatch because it's not leaking.

      If it has dropped, there's a big leak, and opening the hatch would be A Bad Thing

      I don't know what they'd do in that case... undock and redock?

      1. DropBear
        FAIL

        Re: Two and half hours to open the door

        Yeah, then again - if the pressure didn't drop measurably in, say, ten minutes pray tell how much do you think it could possibly drop while everyone goes through the hatch?!? You're still welcome to close it after that if you detect a leak / anyway...

  10. Pen-y-gors

    Space suit design

    I was fascinated by the tradition of the intrepid cosmonauts peeing against the wheel of the bus before take-off. Surely having fly-buttons in a spacesuit makes getting an airtight seal a bit tricky?

  11. AbelSoul
    Trollface

    Some Reg readers have suggested this was because...

    he knew something everyone else didn't

    Guilty as charged, m'lud

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Some Reg readers have suggested this was because...

      US Cybercommand inflitration dude, please!

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    What's his normal expression?

    Perhaps he always has that look.

    1. DropBear
      Pint

      Re: What's his normal expression?

      Well I know I would look worse than that thinking about spending a few months without any alcohol...

    2. graeme leggett Silver badge

      Re: What's his normal expression?

      Closest I could find to a smile

      http://images.usatoday.com/news/_photos/2003/08/06-in-2-spacemarriage.jpg

      I note he's Ukrainian by birthplace...

  13. sandman

    Commuting

    Look, this guy has done it all before - he's just taking a risky commute to work. How many of you smile like a loon on the way to work? Particularly when work makes a 6 month contract in Luton with cheap hotel accommodation look comfortable ;-)

    1. Thecowking

      Re: Commuting

      It's nicer outside than in Luton though.

      View's better too, most of the time you can't see Luton.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Commuting

        Most (all) of the time you wouldn't want to see Luton.

        Still, 2 1/2 hours to open the door is quicker than it takes to travel the 2 miles from Fife to Lothian these days....

        1. Pedigree-Pete

          Re: Commuting Hovercraft.

          Borrow a couple from the South Coast to get you from N to S Queensferry or better still, Kirkaldy to Leith. PP

          1. Roq D. Kasba

            Re: Commuting Hovercraft.

            Can't you see Luton for exactly 50% of the time?

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Um, astronauts train for a ton of crap to go wrong, that's kind of what keeps them alive when the proto-coporolyte hits the spinny air moving thing...

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Bonus payment?

    I have read that Cosmonauts get (or used to get?) bonus pay for having to do a manual docking, so consequently they would routinely "find" a problem with the automated system and switch to manual.

    Google turns up a few claims supporting this, but I don't know if it's really true (or if it once was but no longer is).

    1. Roq D. Kasba

      Re: Bonus payment?

      That sounds in character for a Soviet era body.

      But maybe he just fancied a bit of practice and to look cool.

  16. Gene Cash Silver badge

    Done it before

    Malenchenko has had to do it before. On MIR, he docked a Progress by remote control, and also did a manual Soyuz undock-redock. So in addition to the training, he's an old hand.

    A few more details at http://spaceflight101.com/soyuz-tma-19m-docking/

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Done it before

      Ripley: How many drops for you is this, lieutenant?

      Gorman: Thirty-eight ... Simulated.

      Vasquez: How many COMBAT drops?

      Gorman: Uh, two.

      Gorman: Including this one.

      Drake: Shit.

      Hudson: Oh-ho, man...

  17. phuzz Silver badge
    Happy

    Cosmonauts *do* smile

    To everyone who's saying that Malenchenko is a typical Russian cosmonaut and they never smile, may I present to you Exhibit A:

    Major Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, first man in space, and generally an all-round cheerful bloke.

    1. x 7

      Re: Cosmonauts *do* smile

      "Major Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, first man in space, and generally an all-round cheerful bloke."

      There is a theory that his plane crash was not accidental, and was contrived to get rid of him because he was too "cheerful" with bonhomie, alcohol and women.....

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Why so glum?

    Two words - no vodka . Six months is a long time.

  19. x 7

    Peake working on Principia??????

    so they're rewriting Newton's book after all these years? Wouldn't it be easier to write a new one instead?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      The next book after an author's bestseller is always a tricky prospect.

  20. Yesnomaybe

    Hang on

    I admit I have been out of the loop a little, recently:

    Gordon Brown's brother is a Russian? And a cosmonaut too??

  21. Gene Cash Silver badge

    YouTube vid from NASA TV

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k89VGUmbvS8

    Explanation of how a thruster failed: http://spaceflight101.com/soyuz-tma-19m/soyuz-tma-19m-docking/

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