2 days ago
From The Hindu, July 21, 1975: Second link-up a cliff-hanger
Moscow, July 20: Soviet space scientists spent seven cliff-hanging minutes during the second docking operation between Apollo and Soyuz-19 as the two spacecraft buckled and rolled and even began to rotate, a Soviet space official revealed to-day.
Dr. Vladimir Syromyatnikov, the head of the Soviet-American task force which designed and built the docking mechanism used to join the two spacecraft during their flight together through space, said the final link-up had taken place under 'extreme conditions'.
The pitching and tossing about of the two spacecraft between 12:33 and 12:40 GMT had been 'rather unexpected', he said. Space controllers watching the action on their television screens lived through seven emotion-filled minutes, he added.
He said the fact that all went well in the end was proof of the ability of the mechanism to withstand all the shocks to which it was subjected. 'We do not know the exact reasons for yesterday's incident and specialists from the two countries are at work analysing the causes,' Dr. Syromyatnikov said.
The Soviet expert said it would not have been 'tragic' if the mechanism had buckled during the docking operation because the astronauts would have then taken immediate steps to separate the two spacecraft ready for their return to earth.
The docking mechanisms were not directly attached to the space capsules used in the descent to earth, Dr. Syromyatnikov noted.
