Landing of a descent vehicle on a water surface is an off-optimum but feasible situation (for example, the landing of Soyuz-23 spacecraft on Lake Tengiz on 16 October 1976), so special attention is always paid to preparing cosmonauts to work in these circumstances.
The cycle of training on actions after landing of spacecraft on water surface, which in summer months are annually held on the basis of the 179th Centre of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in Noginsk near Moscow, this year takes place from 17 to 21 June. Three conditional crews take part in the “water survival”. Before starting the practical training, everyone has listened to the theoretical course of disciplines.
The “zero” crew includes GCTC instructors, and the first crew includes cosmonauts of Roscosmos Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Alexey Zubritsky, as well as NASA astronaut Christopher Williams. The second crew is represented by cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov, Sergey Korsakov, and astronaut Jonathan Kim.
The preparation for and conduct of the training is ensured by the test and training team, which includes instructors, doctors, psychologists, divers, interpreters, and other specialists of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre, as well as NASA representatives.
On Monday, 17 June, a camp with equipped workstations was set up in the training area, and equipment was prepared. Today, there was a practice of operations on leaving the descent vehicle. Also, the first crew had a “dry” training – it is actually a “dress rehearsal” of its work but only performed on land.
On 19 June, the second crew will also undergo a similar training, while the first one will start a “long” training, i.e. actions on the water surface during evacuation from the descent vehicle. Thursday and Friday will be dedicated to “long” and “short” training, which, as the name suggests, differ in the actions to be taken by the crew in case of rescue in an extreme situation.
On Friday, 21 June, the “short” training will be followed by the winding down of workstations and the departure of all participants in the event to Star City.
Pictured left to right: Christopher Williams, Sergei Kud-Sverchkov and Alexei Zubritsky
