ROSCOSMOS - Russian Vehicles patch.
August 7, 2021
In order to form ballistic conditions before launching and docking of the Soyuz MS-19 manned transport vehicle, as well as undocking and landing of the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft, the specialists of the Russian Mission Control Center will correct the orbital altitude of the International Space Station.
According to preliminary data from the ballistic and navigation support service of the TsNIIMash Flight Control Center (part of the Roscosmos State Corporation), on August 19, 2021 at 07:04 Moscow time, the engines of the Zvezda service module will be turned on, which will operate for 47 seconds, and the impulse value will be 0.67 m / s. After this maneuver, the average altitude of the ISS should increase by 1.2 km and amount to 420.84 km.
ISS reboost by Progress MS cargo vehicle. Image Credit: NASA
Currently, the crew of the 65th long-term expedition, consisting of Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Peter Dubrov and NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hai, who arrived on April 9, 2021 on the Soyuz MS-18 manned spacecraft, as well as crew members Crew Dragon - NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrow and Megan MacArthur, ESA astronaut Tom Peske and Japan Aerospace Research Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide.
One-turn flight scheme to the ISS can be worked out when Progress MS-20 is launched
A single-turn flight scheme (about 2 hours) on the ISS can be tested for the first time when the Progress MS-20 cargo vehicle is launched in the event that its elements are routinely tested within the framework of launches of the two previous “trucks”. The head of the ballistics department of the Rocket and Space Corporation Energia (part of Roscosmos) Rafail Murtazin told TASS about this.
“Formally, it turns out on two more trucks (Progress MS-18 and Progress MS-19), if it is successful, on the third (Progress MS-20) a single-turn scheme could be made,” he said Murtazin.
According to the ballistician, during the Progress MS-17 flight, launched on June 30 from Baikonur, an entry into a coelliptical orbit was worked out, which is necessary for a single-turn rendezvous scheme. The ship was on it for 50 minutes.
Progress MS cargo vehicle. Image Credit: NASA
“The next truck will also fly on a two-day basis. On it we will continue working out: after the first two impulses we will fly in a coelliptical orbit (after the first day), in another day we will move to another coelliptical orbit, so that both after the first and after the second one, we will understand with what accuracy the coelliptical orbit is formed. and the speed of its degradation, ”he said.
In case of successful completion of this stage and with the approval of Roscosmos, explained Murtazin, the final part of the flight can be tested. Now the autonomous rendezvous takes almost one orbit, so it needs to be reduced to 20-25 minutes. “In fact, in this section, somewhere from a distance of 2-2.5 km, speed control relative to the ISS will be carried out,” he added.
Single turn circuit
In April 2019, RSC Energia developed a single-orbit rendezvous scheme for spacecraft with the ISS; for the first time its elements were tested during the flight of the Progress MS-17 spacecraft. Dmitry Rogozin, General Director of Roscosmos, told reporters that a single-turn flight to the ISS could be tested in 2022.
Rafail Murtazin, head of the RSC Energia ballistics department, told TASS that the single-turn scheme assumes that after launching with two pulses, the spacecraft will be in a coelliptical orbit geometrically similar to the ISS orbit. With this approach, when the observation angle of the station from the ship is 23 degrees, the point of fulfillment of the optimal impulse, leading the ship to the vicinity of the station through a half-turn, is uniquely determined.
Related links (in Russian):
ROSCOSMOS Press Relase: https://www.roscosmos.ru/32081/
ROSCOSMOS Press Relase: https://www.roscosmos.ru/32084/
Soyuz MS-18: https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/sojuz-ms-18/
Progress MS-20: https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/progress-ms-20/
Expedition 65: https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/mks-65/
International Space Station (ISS): https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/mks/
Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: ROSCOSMOS/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.
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