posted 09-29-2010 10:46 PM               

Despite all the upgrades, "the flight crews will see almost no change," Bryukhanov said, "as the new spaceship will have a familiar interface that cosmonauts have been trained to operate." However, some changes have already been made for the crew’s convenience: Color displays replace monochrome ones, and control panels have been more ergonomically arranged. (The modernization will also more than double the cargo capacity of the cramped vehicle, from 50 kilograms to 120 kg, giving more flexibility to deliver repair tools and parts to the ISS in the absence of the space shuttle.)

Taken together with the new CPU and status indicators, these changes will now allow the Soyuz to be flown by a single professional pilot, accompanied by two crew members who need only minimal training on Soyuz systems and thus will be better prepared for their specialized in-orbit activities. The previous design required two fully trained crew members, with the third seat available for a research specialist with limited Soyuz flight duties.

posted 10-07-2010 07:35 PM               

Soyuz TMA-M manned transport vehicle of a new series

Major Modifications

Five new devices of the total mass of ~42 kg (instead of 6 devices of the total mass of ~101 kg) are installed in the guidance, navigation and control system of the new series vehicle. In this case GN&CS power consumption is reduced up to 105 W (instead of 402 W).

Central computer (CC) with the interface device of the total mass of ~26 kg and power consumption of 80 W is used as part of GN&CS modified. The central computer capacity is 8 M operations/s, random-access memory (RAM) capacity is 2000 KB. The operation life which is 35 thou. hours is significantly increased. A 50% computer power margin is envisaged.

In OMS the following is installed: 14 new devices of the total mass of ~28 kg (instead of 30 devices of the total mass of ~70 kg) at the same data rate. The mode of data exchange with OC is inserted.

The OMS power consumption is reduced: in the direct telemetry information transmission mode - up to 85 W (instead of 115 W), in the record mode - up to 29 W (instead of 84 W) and in the display or reproducing mode - up to 85 W (instead of 140 W).

Attendant Modifications

Thermal Control System (TCS):

• liquid thermostatting of GN&CS OC devices is provided by installation of three cold plates in the vehicle instrument module (IM);
  
• TCS strap-on radiator loop is modified to connect the cold plates in order to provide thermostatting of new devices of the guidance, navigation and control system, located in the instrument module;
  
• electric pump unit of the increased capacity is installed in TCS strap-on radiator loop;
  
• liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger is replaced in order to improve the vehicle liquid thermostatting at the launch site due to the incorporation in the vehicle of new devices requiring thermostatting.

Guidance Navigation and Control System:

• automatic control unit of berthing and attitude thrusters (ACU BAT) is upgraded in order to provide compatibility with new onboard computers;
  
• software for the vehicle descent module computers is upgraded.

Onboard Complex Control System (OCCS):

• command processing unit and command matrix are upgraded in order to provide the given control logic of GN&CS and OMS devices incorporated;
  
• circuit breakers in power switching units are replaced for power supply of GN&CS and OMS devices incorporated.

Cosmonaut Panel:

• new software is introduced which consideres the command and signal data change during the onboard systems modernization.

Modifications of the Vehicle Structure and Interfaces with the ISS:

• magnesium alloy of IM instrument frame is replaced by aluminum alloy to improve technological effectiveness;
  
• duplicated multiplex channels are inserted for data exchange between the vehicle OC and the ISS Russian Segment OC.

Modification Results

• 36 obsolete devices are replaced by 19 devices of new development;
  
• OCCS and TCS are modified with regard to provision of control, power supply and thermostatting of new devices incorporated;
  
• vehicle structure is additionally modified to improve the vehicle technological effectiveness;
  
• mass of the vehicle structure is decreased by 70 kg that will allow to provide further upgrading of the vehicle operational capabilities.