Dangerous bolt removed from Soyuz during Russian spacewalk

William Atkins
Friday, 11 July 2008 20:30

Science - Space

Upon the explosive bolt's safe insertion into the pyro-bag, one of the spacewalkers commented, “It is in," and a unidentified controller at Russian mission control responded, “Good. Thank God." [USA Today: “Astronauts take daring spacewalk”]

They completed their task by mending the cut section of the spacecraft with a patch.

The spacewalk took approximately six hours to complete.

NASA officials stated that the when the bolts fire properly the blast is similar to an M-80 firecracker. A M-80 firecracker, sometimes also called a “salute,” is a class of large firecracker.

The M-80 is illegal in the United States because it contains more than 50 milligrams of explosive. The pyrotechnic composition of any legal firework in the United States can only contain less than 50 milligrams of explosive.

Russian and American space officials were concerned that this bolt would cause a third ballistic descent into the Earth’s atmosphere.

The previous two Soyuz mission—TMA-10 on October 2007 and TMA-11 on April 2008—both resulted in abnormal descents back to Earth that jarred the returning space travelers with higher-than-normal gravitational forces (g-forces).

The explosive bolt inside the container will be secured inside the space station until it rides home with the two cosmonauts and the U.S. spaceflight participant later in the year.

Back in April 10, 2008, the TMA-12 spacecraft docked at the International Space Station with the first South Korean astronaut onboard. For additional information, please read the iTWire article “Soyuz TMA-12 docks with ISS: First South Korean boards.”