Sat,Sep 14,2013
MOSCOW, Sept. 13 -- Cosmonauts onboard a Russian spacecraft Soyuz TMA-08M flew blind during their return trip to the Earth after the sensors of the landing module failed during the descent, a crew member said Friday.
"We've got problems. After separation (of the landing and orbital modules) all our parameters we must control disappeared," Pavel Vinogradov told reporters at the Star City in Moscow region.
The crew had to pilot the landing module "virtually blindly," he said, adding they failed to gather information about the module's altitude.
Vinogradov added that the only information the crew was receiving after re-entry was via radio communication with the rescue team after the landing module has descended to 7,500 meters.
The Soyuz TMA-08M landed Wednesday in Kazakhstan with two Russians and one NASA crew members after completing their mission on the International Space Station (ISS).
The next expedition is to depart for the ISS on Sept. 26.
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