Since Soyuz is the only current man rated vehicle I was wondering how far one could push it. I know the RCS is peroxide based and 'goes off', limiting practical use to 120 days - but what is it's 'out of the box' operating envelope was in relation to distance from the sun.
1 - I couldn't find anything numerical on it's thermal control capabilities. What would happen if you put it near Venus, could the cooling keep up? if it had a parasol? How close to the sun could it go and keep cool? Conversely how far out until it gets too cool? (I assume losing heat is the real problem - but I guess Apollo 13 got cold with 'everything' shut down)
2 - Same kind of queries for the solar arrays. I expect they lose efficiency as they get 'too hot', but I'd like to locate the temperature vs power out put data.
I'd appreciate any thoughts, specific information, or references to data sources anyone might have.
The best source of info on the Soyuz spacecraft are the NASA technical reports provided by RSC Energia and maintained by JSC. You might be able to get them by FOIA request.
... I know the RCS is peroxide based and 'goes off', limiting practical use to 120 days ...
It was ~200 days before ISS, from Soyuz TMA it is ~215 days.
Thanks Danderman & Prof68.
I found some more docs, but nothing quantitative yet. I did find that the main engine turbo-pumps use hydrogen peroxide, which I guess degrades just like the RCS does.
thanks coypu76 - fantastic document - wish I could read the Russian - maybe I can google translate it or something. [ actually you can upload the pdf to google docs, then open in google docs, then 'tools > translate' and it takes a fair stab at it ]
I'm looking for details on the Soyuz manned spacecraft.
I know the Russians planned using a variant for a Luna flyby. I wondered how suited it was to flybys further afield, kind of like a Russian version of the Apollo Applications missions. e.g. a manned Venus or Mars flyby. Apart from life support and such it seems like temperature control and solar power are the two biggest unknowns there; how much heat can it reject? how much power can it generate at Mars?
Glad it was helpful. I don't have time to do complete translations, but if there are any parts that Google doesn't do well (machine translation is still in its early nascency) PM me and I can translate any specifics you may wonder about. I was a USAF linguist and lived in Russia in the early 90s - although I don't use the language full time in my career, I still take translation and interpretation gigs from time to time, so small bits and pieces I will be happy to help with.
Best,
coypu