Roscosmos and NASA talked about the disorientation of the ISS in space
On the afternoon of October 15, the crew of the International Space Station reported that the ISS had lost its orientation in space. The first to write about this was “RIA Novosti” with reference to the broadcast of the station's negotiations with the Earth, which is being conducted by NASA.
Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, a specialist at the Mission Control Center near Moscow, explained that the emergency message about the loss of orientation came from the American segment of the ISS. The incident occurred during testing of the motion control system of the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft. On it in two days the director Klim Shipenko and the actress Yulia Peresild, who were filming the film “Challenge” in orbit, should return to Earth.
Later, the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation (part of the Roscosmos structure) confirmed to Gazeta.Ru that the station had lost its orientation in space. “During the testing of the engines of the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft, the influence of the operation of the engines on the orientation of the station occurred. As a result, there was a temporary change in the orientation of the ISS, “- said in” Energia “.
The corporation noted that the personnel of the main operational control group of the Russian segment of the ISS quickly re-orientated, and now nothing threatens the crew or the station itself.
As follows from the negotiations of the American Mission Control Center in Houston with the commander of the ISS, French astronaut Tom Pesquet, NASA believes that after testing the system, the engines of the docked spacecraft did not shut down normally, and continued to work until the moment of fuel consumption limitation came.
In an interview with Gazeta.Ru, pilot-cosmonaut Andrei Borisenko said that the incident at the station, most likely, would not in any way affect the return of the “film crew” to Earth on October 17. The cosmonaut explained that, although the situation is abnormal, it is nevertheless taken into account, the corresponding protocols have been developed for it.
“This should not cause any difficulties for the flight program of the station and the descent of the crew on the Soyuz. That is, this situation should not change the flight program,” added Borisenko. According to him, this sometimes happens, after which the orientation of the ISS is restored, and the flight continues as usual.
Loss of orientation of a spacecraft does not mean that it leaves its orbit, descends, or, conversely, moves away from the Earth. This only indicates that the position of the axes of the apparatus has changed relative to the given directions. Simply put, while testing the engines of the Soyuz docked to the ISS, the station turned around on the spot.
The film “Challenge” is due out in 2022 and will be the first ever feature film shot in space. He talks about an emergency situation in space when an astronaut became ill on board during a flight. And for this, a cardiac surgeon Eugene is sent into orbit to carry out an operation in zero gravity.
The crew, directed by Shipenko and Peresild, who plays the main role in the film, left for the ISS on October 5. They were supposed to spend more than a week and a half in orbit. Now the shooting of the scenes at the station has been completed, the actress and director are preparing to return to Earth. In total, about 30 minutes of screen time was filmed. The rest of the scenes will be filmed on the surface. In addition to Peresild and Shipenko, all the Russian cosmonauts who are now at the station took part in the filming.
