Manned Soyuz Launch Safety System Verification -- How Active?

[JimO]

The question has come up about the time-tested launch safety systems of the manned Soyuz vehicle.

I have watched the SAS -- the launch escape system -- undergo significant hardware evolution over the last 40 years, as would be expected. Also, we watched it save two lives in 1983 -- and I personally arranged to have those cosmonauts present an award in gratitude to Max Faget, whose team invented the 'tractor rocket' concept and patented it for US space vehicles [that's another story -- I've even got pictures of this 1994 unofficial gathering in Houston].

How long has the current escape rocket configuration been in operation, what on-going tests of its continued effectiveness are conducted, and who is the responsible design bureau subcontracted to NPO Energiya?

Are there any downmoding schemes for crew survival if the SAS is commanded to fire and does not? That is, if the rocket goes off course, and the Soyuz remains attached until shutdown or disintegration, can the Soyuz then attempt to perform a modular separation and parachute deploy? Its chances of success would be considerably less, but still not zero.

Or, presuming there still is no crew manual SAS initiation capability, do they just ride it down in such a very bad day's case?

Just wondering... 

[Danderman]

The issue is a little more complex than described above. For example, to take the scenario literally, which is that the SAS is activated but the rockets don't fire, well in that case, the descent and orbital modules would be physically separated from the PAO and the rocket, but the rocket engines would still be firing, a truly nasty outcome. Presumably, the fairing would have split open and separated due to the abort command, and if the rocket were still in the lower atmosphere, the nastiness factor would be increased.

However, I suspect that the real question is what would happen if the abort were activated, but nothing happened. In that event, the descent module would still be in the fairing, but the rocket engines would be firing, to some degree, or the rocket would be disintegrating or slowly exploding, like in the old movies. IF there were no accelerations and the fairing were to fall off the Soyuz could be separated from the rocket (ie the bolts could be blown manually AFAIK), and the main engine could provide some separation, even at relatively low altitudes.