The final stage of the Odyssey-2005 program has been completed at the Yuri Gagarin Russian State Science Research Cosmonauts Training Centre.
The Odyssey project is intended to simulate all stages of preliminary selection and pre-flight training of the Soyuz-TMA space craft crew. It also includes simulated docking to the orbital space station. This time, the candidates were selected from among students of the Krasnoyarsk-based Siberian State Aerospace University (SibGAU).
The candidates chosen during the first stage of the project underwent medical and psychological testing to be assigned to two six-man teams, the prime and back-up crews.
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| The "Odyssey" crewmembers are trying to establish a radio coctact with a resque team. |
Twenty-two people, eight of them female, were long-listed during the first stage. They are all space enthusiasts wishing to dedicate their lives to space exploration. On April 12, 2004, the candidates met the author of the Odyssey project, cosmonaut Aleksandr Lazutkin, who was attending the SibGAU celebrations of the International Day of Aviation and Cosmonautics. Said Mr Lazutkin, "I was agreeably surprised to see so many people here at SibGAU wishing to participate in our program. It is also amazing how tall you all are, because most members of the [Russian] cosmonaut corps are rather short." Mr Lazutkin also told the participants about the program stage to take place at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre, wished them every success, and held an extensive questions and answers session.
The preliminary physical fitness tests were performed at the Krasnoyarsk Centre for Sports Medicine.
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| The "Odyssey" crew during parashute training. |
The first stage of the selection process, the survival testing, was held in Siberian taiga with the assistance of rescue instructors of the Siberian Search-and-Rescue Unit of the Russian Emergency Ministry. The term 'survival' involves taking active and practical measures to preserve one's life, health and performance in hostile environments following a contingency landing.
The four-day survival testing stage culminated in a rafting ride down the fast-flowing Yesaulovka River. The well-coordinated teamwork, supportive and sportsmanlike behavior of the candidates earned high praise from the testing team, who believe that such extreme conditions are the best environment for testing people's physical and moral strength.
The resultant student cosmonaut corps consisted of Nikolay Silakov, Dmitry Amosov, Aleksandr Guryanov, Sergei Starovoitov, Timofei Kamlenok and Valentina Yurieva.
During the next stage of the project the participants were subjected to flight testing on board L-39 jet trainers of the "Rus" aerobatic team. The test flights, performed from the Vyazma airfield in the Moscow region, were performed by "Rus" pilot instructors and included aerobatic sequences and G-force tolerance testing.
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| "Odyssey" Crew from Kasnoyarsk Aerospace University after complition of aerobatic training. |
Following this, the project participants underwent an abbreviated space flight training course at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre. The course included:
1. General space training.
2. Specialized space training (zero gravity, G-force, survival and mental stress training).
3. Simulator-based crew training in orbiting and deorbiting procedures for the Soyuz TMA vehicle.
4. Mission training.
General space training provides the Odyssey crews with basic facts about the origin, composition and evolution of the Universe; introduces them to space flight methods and equipment; and educates them in using space for the sake of humanity.
Specialized space training is intended for familiarization of the students with the most aggressive space flight factors: zero gravity, G-forces, confinement, and mental stresses caused by onboard emergencies and contingency landings.
The Soyuz-TMA mission training program introduces crew members to the vehicle design, systems and flight pattern. Each crew member is also trained in his or her functions as a mission specialist.
The primary training equipment used in the program is as follows:
• Integrated simulator for the Soyuz TM (TDK-7ST No. 2) or Soyuz TMA (TDK-7ST No. 3) ferry craft.
• Don-17KS integrated simulator; Don-37KE and Don-KSD specialized simulators
The simulator imitates all flight phases of the Soyuz-TMA ferry craft, from pre-launch to landing. It provides for interactive piloting and systems operation (both by the crew and from the mission control center) in standard operating modes, and also supports malfunction scenarios. The simulator is used in training Soyuz TMA crews for the following flight phases:
• prelaunch;
• ascent;
• autonomous orbital flight;
• rendezvous, approach and docking to orbital space station;
• docked maneuvers;
• separation;
• automatic and manual deorbiting;
• landing.
The real-time flight was conducted in accordance with mission documents developed specifically for the purpose. Said an Odyssey crew member: "That was an extraordinary experience – we could hear the engines hum, feel booster stages separate, observe the Earth and the International Space Station through the windows; we even flew around the ISS – it is unforgettable!"
Apart from training at the Gagarin Centre, the students visited the Mission Control Centre, Rocket and Space Corporation Energiya, NPO Zvezda and the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics.
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| Final Piloting Practice Diplomas Complition. | "Atlas Aerospace" President Mr. Y. Nikiforov, Vice-Presinent A. Lazutkin and "Odyssey" program participants in front of Space Ship "Soyus-TMA" Simulator. | "Odyssey" crew is training for "Soyus" Simulator flight. |
The program in general, and the simulated flight in particular, proved a success. All the Odyssey crew members displayed excellent performance capabilities and superb skills in piloting the spacecraft independently.
Mr Lazutkin, Vice President of Atlas Aerospace and a cosmonaut, summarized the results of the project: "Our idea of putting students into a spacecraft and letting them pilot it, upon relevant training, really works. We will proceed with the project."
Atlas Aerospace President George Nikiforov congratulated the participants on having successfully completed the program, and wished them further success on their ways to space.
