New mockups of Soyuz TMA-M descent vehicles have successfully passed final tests
January 22, 2016
RSC Energia specialists have successfully completed acceptance tests on two Odyssey mockups simulating descent vehicles of crew transportation spacecraft Soyuz TMA-M. The mockups are intended for training specialists from the Russian Ministry of Defense involved in the search and rescue support for the ISS mission.
"The Odyssey mockups provide a high-fidelity representation of the flight model, and this will make it possible to bring the training of the rescuers from the Russian Defense Ministry to whole new level and assure the efficiency of their watch over the land and sea portions of the ascent ground track of the Soyuz TMA-M-type spacecraft", - pointed out the head of the department for crew and rescue support, maintenance of Soyuz TMA and New-Generation Crew Transportation Spacecraft, analysis of cosmonaut activities of RSC Energia Sergei Malikhov.
Two Odyssey mockups complete with ground support equipment were manufactured at RSC Energia under a contract with Roscosmos in 2015. In the spring of 2016 one of the mockups is to be handed over to the Pacific Fleet, while the other will be handed over to the 2nd Command of the Russian Military Space Forces for further operation.
Full-scale electrical functional mockups Odyssey were built on the basis of descent vehicles of crew transportation spacecraft Soyuz TMA-08M and Soyuz TMA-09M that had returned from orbit, and they are intended for training the crews of ships and aircraft, search and rescue teams and medical teams involved in the search of spacecraft descent vehicles at sea, for practicing evacuation of the spacecraft crew, for practice drills to load the descent vehicles onto search and evacuation vehicles and other transportation. In some key aspects (interior layout of the cabin, air-tightness, mass and centering properties, etc.) the mockups are fully representative of flight models of descent vehicles of currently used spacecraft. The electric system for cabin ventilation provides a comfortable environment for operators staying inside during drills of search and rescue teams.