Soyuz T-10A

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  F00940 / 83F02 Launch date - time  26 Sep 1983 - 19:37:51 UT Launch site  Baikonur, LC1 Launch vehicle  Soyuz 11A511U OKB name - S/Nº  Soyuz 7K-ST s/nº16L Mass  6850 kg Call Sign   Okean (Ocean) Backup crew  Kizim L., Solovyov V. Landing date - time  26 Sep 1983 - 19:43:02 UT Landing location   Flight Duration  5min 13sec

Crew Soyuz T-10A

Flight Crew

Mission details:

• The Soyuz T-10-1 mission (often called Soyuz T-10A in the West) was intended to visit the Salyut 7 space station, which was occupied by the Soyuz T-9 crew. However, it never finished its launch countdown; the launch vehicle was destroyed on the launch pad by fire on September 26, 1983.
• Shortly before the planned liftoff, fuel spilled around the base of the Soyuz-U rocket and caught fire at T-90 seconds. The launch control team activated the escape system but the control cables had already burned, and the Soyuz crew could not activate or control the escape system themselves. Twenty seconds later, launch control was finally able to activate the escape system by radio command, by which time the booster was engulfed in flames. Explosive bolts fired to separate the descent module from the service module and the upper launch shroud from the lower. Then the escape system motor fired, dragging the orbital module and descent module, encased within the upper shroud, free of the booster with an acceleration of 14 to 17g (137 to 167 m/s²) for five seconds. Two seconds after the escape system activated, the booster rocket exploded, destroying the launch complex (which was, incidentally, the one used to launch Sputnik 1 and Vostok 1). Four paddle-shaped stabilizers on the outside of the shroud opened and the descent module separated from the orbital module at an altitude of 650 m, dropping free of the shroud. The descent module discarded its heat shield, exposing the solid-fuel landing rockets, and deployed a fast-opening emergency parachute. Landing occurred about four kilometers from the launch pad. The two crew members were badly bruised after the high acceleration, but had survived.
• The failure's immediate result was the inability to replace the aging Soyuz T-9 return capsule attached to the Salyut 7 space station. This led to overblown reports in the Western media about the cosmonauts remaining aboard Salyut 7 (which had arrived several months before in the T-9) being 'stranded' in space, with no ability to return.

Soyuz launch escape system.

Soyuz T-10A explodes on pad. Soyuz T-10A launch escape system ascends into sky.

Soyuz launch escape system test.

Soyuz LES Test - Soyuz capsule descends after launch escape system test.

External links:

• DREWexmachina: Description

Astrophilately covers:

Launch cancel Baikonur, signed by crew.