Wet start of the week for Terry and myself today. For our first class this morning we headed to the Hydrolab, where we practiced operations that we would have to perform to attach ourselves safely in case we had to be airlifted by rescue helicopters.
On your usual landing day, of course, helicopters simply land next to the descend module and rescue personnel helps the crew to get out. However, there could be situations (and there have been in the past) in which the helicopter can not land. And for sure there could be water splashdowns, especially in the case of a rocket failure in the later portion of the 8-min ride to orbit, when the descent module would end up in the Pacific.
Terry and I got to practice both in the Sokol, our regular pressure suit, and in the Forel dry suit, which is part of our survival equipment. We had a crane instead of an actual helicopter, which makes things a bit easier. But we’ve both experienced real helicopter airlifts in the past as part of our training as military pilots.
All operations leading up to the helo reascue- getting into the Forel, leaving the descent module, using signaling equipment and other survival items – we practiced last summer. You can see some pictures here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/astrosamantha/sets/72157634342550408/
Oh, and the Hydrolab of course is usually dedicated to spacewalking training. Here are some pictures of that, if you missed them:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/astrosamantha/sets/72157633228799518/
09/12/2013