Whatever we discuss need to be imagined by the readers for better understanding as most of us say that knowing space is the most complex thing in the world.
First of all, let me tell you what is the space station. We know that earth is a spherical structure. Imagine a Globe which is a round thing as we see in our schools. Above the globe image, another circle and name it as “ATMOSPHERE” and now imagine one more circle above the atmosphere and name it as space.
So now, an international space station is nothing but a vehicle that travels along that circular path above the atmosphere.
Every launcher that we send to space gets attached to that vehicle and then rotates around the earth and collects the data of the earth. I hope its all clear about the space station. Now the astronauts in the space station need to land on the earth after finishing their work in the space. Let us discuss how it all happens.
The landing procedure that we are going to discuss here is SOYUZ LANDING, the latest and trending procedure. The landing spot is in KAZAKHSTAN.
As I said earlier, the space vehicle which is launched from the earth gets attached to the space station, so during the landing process, the space vehicle gets detached from the space station. After it gets detached, the vehicle the astronauts stay has 3 parts in it.
- Orbital Module
- Descendent Module
- Instrument/Propulsion Module
The astronauts stay in the Descendent Module. The journey from the space station to the landing region is just 3.5hrs. The actual landing starts when the vehicle enters the atmosphere. While entering into the atmosphere, the engine is allowed to burn. After it reaches the atmospheric surface automatically, the earth’s gravitational force pulls the vehicle down.
Half an hour before the landing, the two compartments The orbital Module and Propulsion module get separated and loses the connection with the Descendent module. Now, only the descendent module in which the astronauts travel will reach the ground.
Now the vehicle is weigh-less and so when its only 23 minutes before the landing the ground staff reduces its speed. Before it touches down the land it will be traveling at a speed of 5 feet/second.
Four parachutes that are deployed to the vehicle opens up 15 minutes before the vehicle touches down the land. Make it clear, the parachutes are not used by the astronauts, they are attached to the descendant vehicle and the astronauts will be sitting in well-cushioned seats inside the descendant vehicle.
Now, after several programmings by the ground staff, the descendant module touches the ground at the desired point. The ground staff will be cautious and ready for the landing procedure.
When the spacecraft touches the ground, the ground staff gets the astronauts out of the descendant module. If the landing is perfect, the descendant module can be further used for another space take off.
