View source for Engineering:Soyuz 7K-ST No. 16L

{{short description|Unsuccessful Soyuz spacecraft mission}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name                  = Soyuz 7K-ST No.16L
| image                 = 
| image_caption         = 
| insignia              = 

| mission_type          = 
| operator              = 
| COSPAR_ID             = 
| SATCAT                = 
| mission_duration      = 00:05:13
| distance_travelled    = 
| orbits_completed      = Failed to orbit
| suborbital_apogee     = 

| spacecraft            = 
| spacecraft_type       = [[Engineering:Soyuz-T|Soyuz-T]]
| manufacturer          = NPO Energia
| launch_mass           = 6850 kg
| landing_mass          = 

| launch_date           = 26 September 1983, 19:37:49 UTC
| launch_rocket         = [[Engineering:Soyuz-U|Soyuz-U]]
| launch_site           = Baikonur, Site 1/5

| landing_date          = 26 September 1983, 19:43:02 UTC 
| landing_site          = Baikonur

| crew_size             = 2
| crew_members          = Vladimir Titov<br/>[[Biography:Gennady Strekalov|Gennady Strekalov]]
| crew_callsign         = Okean ([[Earth:Ocean|Ocean]]) 
| crew_photo            = 
| crew_photo_caption    = 

| orbit_epoch           = 26 September 1983 (planned)
| orbit_reference       = [[Astronomy:Geocentric orbit|Geocentric]]
| orbit_regime          = [[Astronomy:Low Earth orbit|Low Earth]]
| orbit_periapsis       = 
| orbit_apoapsis        = 
| orbit_inclination     = 
| orbit_period          = 
| apsis                 = gee

| previous_mission      = [[Engineering:Soyuz T-9|Soyuz T-9]]
| next_mission          = [[Engineering:Soyuz T-10|Soyuz T-10]]
| programme             = [[Engineering:Soyuz programme|Soyuz programme]]<br/><small>(Crewed missions)</small>
}}

'''Soyuz 7K-ST No.16L''', sometimes known as '''Soyuz T-10a''' or '''T-10-1''', was an unsuccessful [[Engineering:Soyuz programme|Soyuz mission]] intended to visit the [[Engineering:Salyut 7|Salyut 7]] space station, which was occupied by the [[Engineering:Soyuz T-9|Soyuz T-9]] crew. However, it never finished its launch countdown; the launch vehicle was destroyed on the launch pad by fire on September 26, 1983. The [[Astronomy:Launch escape system|launch escape system]] of the Soyuz spacecraft fired six seconds before the launch vehicle exploded, saving the crew. It is the first case in which a launch escape system has been fired with a crew on board.<ref name="JANE">{{cite web|url=http://www.janes.com/aerospace/civil/news/jsd/jsd030203_3_n.shtml|title=A brief history of space accidents|publisher=Jane's Transport Business News|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030204073904/http://www.janes.com/aerospace/civil/news/jsd/jsd030203_3_n.shtml|date=February 3, 2003|archivedate=2003-02-04|accessdate=2007-10-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45822845|title=Astronauts escape malfunctioning rocket|date=2018-10-11|work=BBC News|access-date=2018-10-11|language=en-GB}}</ref>

==Crew==
{{Spaceflight crew
|position1       = Commander
|crew1_up        = Vladimir Titov
|flights1_up     = Would have been second
|position2       = Flight Engineer
|crew2_up        = [[Biography:Gennady Strekalov|Gennady Strekalov]]
|flights2_up     = Would have been third
}}

==Mission parameters==
*'''Mass:''' 6850 kg
*'''Perigee:''' N/A
*'''Apogee:''' N/A
*'''Inclination:''' N/A
*'''Period:''' N/A

==Mission highlights==
[[Image:Soyuz T-10-1 abort.jpg|right|thumb|255px|The Soyuz spacecraft narrowly escapes disaster.]]

The crew was sitting on the pad awaiting fueling of the [[Engineering:Soyuz-U|Soyuz-U]] booster to complete prior to liftoff. Approximately 90 seconds before the intended launch, a bad valve caused nitrogen pressurization gas to enter the RP-1 turbopump of the Blok B strap-on. The pump began spinning up, but with no propellant in it, the speed of rotation quickly exceeded its design limits which caused it to rupture and allow RP-1 to leak out and start a fire which quickly engulfed the base of the launch vehicle. Titov and Strekalov could not see what was happening outside, but they felt unusual vibrations and realized that something was amiss.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ston.jsc.nasa.gov/collections/TRS/_techrep/TM-2000-209764.pdf|format=PDF|date=March 2000|page=8|title=A Human Factors Evaluation of a Methodology for Pressurized Crew Module Acceptability for Zero-Gravity Ingress of Spacecraft|last=Sanchez|first=Merri J.|publisher=Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center|location=Houston, Texas|accessdate=2007-10-20|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061005121847/http://ston.jsc.nasa.gov/collections/TRS/_techrep/TM-2000-209764.pdf|archivedate=2006-10-05}}</ref> The launch control team activated the escape system but the control cables had already burned through, and the Soyuz crew could not activate or control the escape system themselves.  The backup radio command to fire the LES required 2 independent operators to receive separate commands to do so and each act within 5 seconds, which took several seconds to occur.  Then explosive bolts fired to separate the descent module from the service module and the upper launch payload shroud from the lower, the escape system motor fired, dragging the [[Engineering:Orbital module|orbital module]] and [[Engineering:Reentry capsule|descent module]], encased within the upper shroud, free of the booster with an acceleration of 14 to 17''g'' (137 to 167&nbsp;m/s²) for five seconds. According to Titov, "We could feel the booster swaying from side to side. Then there was a sudden vibration and a jerking sensation as the LES activated." <ref name="americaspace">{{cite web|url=http://www.americaspace.com/?p=42882 |date=September 28, 2013|title='We Were Swearing!' Thirty Years Since Russia's Brush With Disaster|last=Evans|first=Ben|accessdate=2014-01-24}}</ref>

Just after the escape tower pulled the descent module away, the booster exploded. Its remains burned on the pad for nearly 20 hours. Four [[Engineering:Grid fin|grid fin]]s on the outside of the shroud opened and the descent module separated from the orbital module at an altitude of 650 meters (2132 feet), dropping free of the shroud. The descent module discarded its [[Astronomy:Heat shield|heat shield]], exposing the solid-fuel landing rockets, and deployed a fast-opening emergency parachute. Touchdown occurred about four kilometers (2.4 miles) from the launch pad. The two crew members were badly bruised after the high acceleration, but were otherwise in good health and did not require any medical attention.<ref name="JANE"/> Upon being greeted by recovery crews, they immediately asked for cigarettes to steady their nerves. The cosmonauts were then given shots of vodka to help them relax.<ref name="americaspace">{{cite web|url=http://www.americaspace.com/?p=42882 |date=September 28, 2013|title='We Were Swearing!' Thirty Years Since Russia's Brush With Disaster|last=Evans|first=Ben|accessdate=2014-01-24}}</ref>

American [[Engineering:KH-11|KH-11]] reconnaissance satellites returned photos of the damaged LC-1 in several runs during late 1983 and early 1984.

The descent module was refurbished and later used on [[Engineering:Soyuz T-15|Soyuz T-15]].

The failure's immediate result was the inability to replace the aging [[Engineering:Soyuz T-9|Soyuz T-9]] return capsule attached to the Salyut 7 space station. This led to dire reports in the Western media about the cosmonauts remaining aboard Salyut 7 (which had arrived several months before in the T-9) being 'stranded' in space, with no ability to return.

Official reports by the Soviet news agency TASS gave few details, merely saying that there had been a pad accident and the cosmonauts were rescued by the LES. It was not until several years later during glasnost that the full story of the accident was revealed to the outside world.

Years later, in an interview with the American History Channel regarding the flight, Titov claimed that the crew's first action after the escape rocket fired was to deactivate the spacecraft's cockpit voice recorder because, as he put it, "We were swearing".<ref name="americaspace"/>

==See also==

* [[Engineering:Soyuz 7K-T No.39|Soyuz 7K-T No.39]] – a 1975 Soyuz launch failure
* [[Engineering:Soyuz MS-10|Soyuz MS-10]] – A similar incident in 2018
* Space accidents and incidents

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.russianspaceweb.com/soyuz_sas.html "History of Soyuz Escape System"], Russian Spaceweb website

{{Soyuz}}

[[Category:Crewed Soyuz missions]]
[[Category:Satellite launch failures]]
[[Category:Spacecraft launched by Soyuz-U rockets]]

{{Sourceattribution|Soyuz 7K-ST No. 16L|1}}