How a Soviet Suborbital Spaceflight Nearly Killed Its Crew - Soyuz 18a

[@alexsiemers7898]

So even those times where you land a capsule on a mountain in KSP by accident can be traced to real world events. History genuinely is amazing.

[@PHHE1]

Spoooooiiiler

[@miguelviola7264]

I remember Scott saying that every way you can crash in KSP, there's a real life analog for it

[@peteranderson037]

I've accidentally killed Jebediah MANY times this way.

[@Mike-oz4cv]

It’s actually surprising that tumbling down a mountainside (or landing in a violent river) isn’t considered more of a risk. Though I guess you can’t do much about it in an abort scenario over land.

[@caturlifelive]

yeah

[@HylanderSB]

The capsule is on display at the space museum in Moscow in a diorama of the mountainside.

[@ahaveland]

I've experienced 4g in a small plane and 6g in a catapult which was exciting enough, but a sustained 20g is unimaginable! Very few people could survive that for long.

[@Tracomaster]

this said, the g forces in a plane are usually vertical, while the g forces they experienced were while lying down (so longitudinal) which the body can resist better. Still, this does not take away from the intense force these guys must have experienced. If they were sat upright, they probably would not have survived.

[@Dorumin]

Excuse me, catapult?

[@nightcat7741]

wait did I just read catapult?? what???

[@kirtil5177]

@@Dorumin aircraft catapult i assume, like the ones on aircraft carriers

[@Tracomaster]

@@kirtil5177 i think it was a misnomer. An average scott manley enjoyer would obviously mean a trebuchet

[@tottenhamukraine6774]

My father met once Lazarov in Moscow in mid-80s during another meaningless govt reception. He told a small group of people there (incl. my father) his experience. First he mentioned really it was hard, the were barely breathing during descent. When they came out they mentioned that the isolation on a power line was the same as everywhere in USSR, but then they realized that China is actually using the same. He also said that they were firstly found, a women who was a doctor and part of a rescue mission. Said right after a first medical test, something like "such a relief, because we saw a wolf nearby the capsule". While Lazarov replied, I was basically almost dead, I would kill the wolf with my bare teeth if wolf attacked us".

[@erichaynes7502]

Even if Lazarov was missing an arm and both legs that wolf wouldn't have had a chance.

[@kovo313]

@@erichaynes7502 You might be thinking of Маресьев. 🙂

[@dvv18]

Lazarev

[@mweskamppp]

@@erichaynes7502 I heard, he changed his name to Chuck Norris and moved to USA.

[@smort123]

In Sovjet Russia, Kosmonauts eat the wolf.

[@nicwilson89]

I will never not appreciate the fact that this is one of, if not the, best channel on the Internet for satisfying the wants and desires of the good old fashioned space nerd and space history nerd.

[@dustinfisher5463]

Truth.

[@davesomeone4059]

My only regret is that Scott has a job. Screw The Telecom companies I would rather have more episodes than a better working phone.

[@thanksfernuthin]

You will never not refuse to use double negatives. (Grammar Nazi AWAY!!!)

[@Dawgside]

😂

[@gn_ghost4757]

@@davesomeone4059 I guess that makes him focus on the quality of the video instead of cashing out on the channel by bringing in sponsors...

[@robertnichols2283]

“Fly Safe” Ok- let’s re-enter at 20+ G’s and land on a mountain

[@Muamasow]

Well, on KSP i do that all the time...

[@erics2133]

@@Muamasow Yup, as soon as he mentioned landing on the side of a mountain, I figured that I had experience with what was about to happen.

[@caturlifelive]

well done

[@nagasako7]

20Gs is bad, but Indy/F1 cars and helmets are design for racer to walk away in 50-150G crash. Soviet Seat or Harness probably didn't help situation

[@harmonyspaceagency1743]

Crazy to imagine that much weight

[@DanielWilliams-oi4ss]

The most impressive part of this to me is that they spent a night on the mountain *after* the 20g descent.

[@flechette3782]

My thought too.

[@RhodokTribesman]

I imagine you could take a nap anywhere after a brisk 20G haha

[@qpraulitoqp]

🤣🤣🤣

[@spvillano]

@@RhodokTribesman that G load is nap inducing in and of itself. Still, surviving the night after such a reentry, well, touch spacecraft get tough cosmonauts. Still, I'm betting being balls deep in snow was a blessing after 21G's worth of abuse...

[@kiwivogel]

I propose we call people on these tourist flights "updownauts" instead of astronauts :D

[@nolsp7240]

Pogonauts?😅

[@citizenblue]

This is the one of the best names I've heard so far!

[@ErickSoares3]

Yeetnauts

[@randomnickify]

Nonauts!

[@Grunttamer]

Spacediver?

[@thundar54]

As always, Scott, you are a masterful explainer. The physics of the accident have never been clearer. And, the history was explicated, too. Big fan!

[@MichalRohal]

A well deserved title of Explainaut!

[@hzxsirdkxjwifrcsikhatrzw]

At an average of 4400 km/h this might also be the record for fastest human transportation from one point on earth to another.

[@brianarbenz1329]

Door Dash might be interested in that!

[@JeffreyBue_imtxsmoke]

Really good synopsis of this flight Mr. Manley. I remember this Soyuz failure very well as it was, as you stated in your video, leading up the the ASTP. Prior to ASTP, information for events like this were hard to come by as the Soviets were very "hush hush" about their space program, especially ones that were "military" in nature; e.g. Salyut 3 & 5.

[@Yrouel86]

It's really astounding how much the Soyuz has gone through and how many times still managed to keep the crew safe. It's really a venerable system

[@GowthamNatarajanAI]

It failed and killed crew twice.

[@Yrouel86]

@@GowthamNatarajanAI Yeah of course I didn't mean to overlook those tragedies. Just wanted to highlight that many more crews survived the anomalies making it a fairly safe system, besides those early tragedies that is

[@kirkkerman]

@@GowthamNatarajanAI sure, but the last lethal failure was over 50 years and about 140 missions ago

[@hanspecans]

@@GowthamNatarajanAI now do the space shuttle. The Soyuz is by the numbers the safest and longest running human space flight system.

[@awuma]

@@GowthamNatarajanAI For well-understood reasons, both being attributable to inadequate preparation under pressure to fly.

[@dl0ser]

Thank you for making the best content about space etc. on the internet! I appreciate what you do.

[@Mo-kv9hg]

We do.

[@josephstevens9888]

I read somewhere that the g-meter in the Soyuz went as high as 18-g's. During the decent, Larazev and Makarov were stunned to see the their g-meter peg out and even bend the needle on the meter! I also read that the crew were demanding to know from the ground control whether or not they were coming down on the Chinese side of the border, which frighten them far more than their brutal ballistic re-entry.

[@davidharrison7014]

I heard that both cosmonauts looked at each other and said, "We DO have a treaty with China, don't we???"

[@davidharrison7014]

The G-loads reached by the Soyuz were about a tenth that of the Challenger shuttle when it smacked into the Atlantic Ocean at 200 g's.

[@srinitaaigaura]

@@davidharrison7014 200 g is a freaking collision with the water from freefall.

[@davidharrison7014]

@@srinitaaigaura Yes it is.

[@josephstevens9888]

@@davidharrison7014 Yikes... no recovering from that g-impact!

[@mlaine83]

Love opening youtube and getting an absolutely fascinating new lesson about space. Thanks so much for this great content!

[@feyaia]

Great video. It occurred to me that the names of these unsung heroes hopefully will be seen again on facilities built on the moon and the other places we will go. 20G! Wow! Everything about this mission should have been doom but they landed shaken but not stirred.

[@harmonyspaceagency1743]

Lets hope we live to see it

[@TheSkystrider]

Gosh that's a brutal re-entry! 20 G's, cannot imagine!

[@anthropicandroid4494]

The absolute bravery of the people flying those early rockets, on both sides of the Curtain

[@NemoConsequentae]

"This is a record they wouldn't have wanted to break." And which they were undoubtedly just happy to _survive_ breaking!

[@ErrorAcquired]

This was the best 11 minute video that I have seen on all of youtube in 2022. Thanks Scott. Loved the storytelling

[@nakfan]

Fantastic story. Thanks for the detailed info and the brilliant animations.

[@jeromethiel4323]

So much respect for the Soviet era cosmonauts. Truly great men all of them. The soviets were truly leaders in the space field, until the US stole their thunder with Apollo. Not to say that they were better than the US astronauts, but given the difference in design philosophy and mission control, the soviets had it worse off. But anybody from any nation who has the balls to get into a 60's era death machine and survive has the right stuff for sure.

[@BasePuma4007]

The Americans where definitely ahead in computer technology and electronics, which proved to be extremely important. The Apollo guidance computer was 10 years ahead of its time in terms of its processing power and memory.

[@nothke]

It was not only longest, but fastest that humans would ever move from point A to point B on Earth!! If you consider SR-71 flying at maximum speed. in the same 21 minutes it would cross around 1400 km, so Soyuz definitely crossed a bit more, especially if you count in that the plane needs to take off and land :) Edit: I meant SR-71, not 72, my simple mistake :D No need to roll in conspiracy theories, but I can't prove that it's a simple mistake so.. ;)

[@incargeek]

SR-72 doesnt exist.

[@Salesman9001]

@@incargeek That's what they want you to think, the truth is out there.

[@davisdf3064]

@@incargeek Y e t

[@sidv4615]

Buddy if you’re talking bout the SR 71 it flew at almost 3000 kmph. In 20 minutes it would fly 1000 km not 1400.

[@incargeek]

@@davisdf3064 I agree… “yet” !

[@rzero21]

2:39 Thank you so much, I have always wondered why they got that structure between stages

[@Bob3519]

Scott, thank you for another great one!

[@lestergillis8171]

BOTH are very lucky to have survived that. I wouldn't have thought that ~20 g's would be survivable.

[@philb5593]

Look up Curios Droid’s video “Faster than a speeding bullet, The human crash test dummy” Back in the day they really pushed the boundaries of human endurance. 46 Gs of deceleration for 1.1 seconds in a FORWARD facing seat,

[@altergreenhorn]

@@philb5593 Yes for a fraction of a second

[@janjager2906]

Incredible, what a story!

[@dandeprop]

Hi Scott. excellent story! I remember this happening just prior to AS TP, and the full explanation never came out. I would like to point out that the 'Mode 2' abort mode during a Saturn V launch would have flown essentially the same g loads, and for the same reason. The design criteria for the Command Module (20 g) was driven by this very same requirement. Thank you.

[@davidhuber6251]

Fantastic video as usual. Obviously no one was there to film this particular landing in the mountains so where did the picture at 8:45 come from? That in itself could be a good story...

[@scottmanley]

I have no idea, it's from a russian language video about this event.

[@jimcrelm9478]

Stolen assets smh

[@kirkkerman]

Probably taken by the recovery crew I'd assume

[@MrKotBonifacy]

The logo in the upper-left corner (in the shot) reads, as far as I can tell, РОССКОСМОС (Rosscomos), which is "Russian NASA", basically.

[@democritusmaximus7077]

Brilliant narration. Did not know any of this.,now I do! Thank you Scott!

[@mccloysong]

great research, Scott

[@kenwilson3304]

That's a nice Soyuz print, Scott. Did you make it yourself, or did someone send it to you?

[@quadplay2591]

Good man Scott, I often forget to give your videos a 'like' which is totally my fault. Apologies an please keep up the amazing work, one of the best on YT.

[@matthew_kohai3]

Great to see you in the new year! TY for getting me into KSP.

[@thedownwardmachine]

“This illustrates the dangers of unintentional suborbital flights.” Thanks for the warning! I’ll be sure to steer clear of those.

[@abrikos1100]

8:21 Not aTLay, but aLTay (you can see it on the map)

[@izzieb]

Indeed. The Golden Mountains.

[@SouthwesternEagle]

21g is about 80% the gravitational pull of the Sun at its surface. That's ridiculous G-force.

[@awuma]

i.e. gravity at the Sun's apparent surface.

[@davidharrison7014]

A 150 pound man would weigh 2 tons on the Sun. Not to mention sporting an amazing tan.

[@jonathanbaird8109]

The craziest part is that plenty of people have G-loc'd or come close at 9-12 sustained Gs, while wearing G suits and doing good G strains. It's remarkably impressive and of good fortune that things worked out as they did for the crew.

[@douglasclerk2764]

Anywhere near the sun's surface the g forces would be the least of your problems.

[@geoffreymoseley6801]

This is the first time I've heard of this. Thnx!

[@SportoDeluxe]

Always love your videos, Scott. Thank you!

[@titusnelson9499]

Well done. An excellent captivating documentary a out an exciting incident.

[@acanuck1679]

Ah, memory lane has never been so informative. Thank you, Mr Manley!

[@tomekwrs]

Great! Thanks Scott!

[@MGSSAB]

Thanks for the little teaser on the twitch stream last night!

[@ELMS]

That was really interesting. Thanks, Scott.

[@bodan1196]

Now that is an interesting topic for a book; "Records that the breakers would rather not have broken."

[@dancy105]

Long Dark hoodie! Great video. I learn tons on this channel.

[@bearlemley]

Very interesting Mr Manley. Thank you.

[@AlexRian_]

I always like it when it gets manley here :P

[@intheshell35ify]

Good stuff Scott Manley!

[@probusthrax]

Really good video @scott! Thanks!

[@aerospacefa]

It was a record the crew wouldn't have wanted want to break! Scott nails it every time. :))))

[@MoonWeasel23]

That g meters on the nav ball was all in the red for this rentry

[@farvque]

This is absolutely fascinating!!

[@kenjackson5685]

1st class Scott....thanks fòr sharing

[@Stubbies2003]

Holy cow nice find! I didn't know about this one and that is downright harrowing.

[@Alarm-xh9jj]

Great content as always. Thanks for your work!

[@MechE_Emma]

7:27 I was watching the laptop screen saver and by golly, Uranus fits nicely in that coffee mug!

[@yes_head]

The fact that the Soviets even owned up to this whole episode was seen as progress at the time (pardon the pun.) And nice Freight & Salvage shirt, Scott. I miss that place since we moved, although I'm guessing they've had to reduce their concert programming in Covid times.

[@scottmanley]

I was at Freight & Salvage just before Christmas and before the show they stressed that they'd upgraded the ventilation system to circulate the air more effectively. Everyone here is vaccinated so the shows are going on just fine now.

[@vladimirdyuzhev]

Not sure what you mean "owning"? Reporting it to NASA? Russia was not obliged to report to anyone. Internally of course, as comrade Stalin said, "every failure has a first and last name."

[@philcariss9486]

Excellent,as usual.

[@alemalvina7624]

When you said 21G's i swear i felt a weight on my chest.

[@sleat]

Now I'm doubly glad I've grabbed a Dragon Apollo-Soyuz Test Project kit to build! Great story!

[@philipeagles]

Nice work Scott. Hadn't heard of this one.

[@kittykat1371]

Excellent video Scott, it's really fascinating learning about the Soviet Space Programs, lots of interesting bits and pieces that i never heard about, some that are absolutely terrifying to have experienced. It reminds me of the first time i heard about Vladimir Komarov and as i learned, the First man to die during a space mission. The Soyuz 1 mission was plagued heavily by technical problems and once the capsule commenced re-entry it was found that the parachutes had failed, resulting in Soyuz 1 and Komarov to crash into Earth at 30-40 m/s (98-131 ft). All that was left of his body was a 30 centimeter in diameter and 80 cent long irregular lump of which only a single bone fragment was found to identify him (of which there are pictures). There's also Soyuz 11, the only crewed mission to the first space station Salyut 1. During preparations for re-entry the capsule depressurized killing all three crewmembers Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov, and Viktor Patsayev.

[@howardjohnson2138]

Good show. Thank you

[@Joe-lb8qn]

This is a great tribute to the safety systems and the engineers who designed and built them.

[@quaxenleaf]

Fascinating presentation!

[@peterm3964]

Another GREAT insight into the phenomenal achievements of the now former USSR . Thanks SCOTT MANLY And crew.

[@markramsay6399]

Brilliant this was - really interesting !

[@christhescienceguy6285]

Omg are you @Scott Manley using Orbiter 2016? 4:55. I love that game. Best Space simulator out there.

[@kefkaZZZ]

Well now I’m going to recreate this in KSP. Thank you for reminding me of how awesome that game is Scott!!

[@donnamccann1382]

When the G forces were described, I immediately thought of all the times in the Books of the Expanse series where the crew are having to go on "the juice" for sustained high G with their Epstein drives. In the last three books, the technology has advanced to include fluid immersion crash couches (like a baby in the amniotic sac) for G forces up around 30.

[@44R0Ndin]

Gotta remember that in The Expanse, the "Juice" and the other acceleration mitigation technologies are for burns lasting the better part of an hour or longer. Plus you gotta remember that you'll go thru G-LOC (likely the thing that the juice helps prevent) long before you're ever in any realm where the level of Gs would be considered lethal, barring any medical conditions that would predispose you to something like an aneurysm or other hemorrhagic condition. Plus that fluid immersion crash couch thing is something we could probably make today, considering that we've done successful experiments with humans being able to breathe very specialized oxygenated fluids (liquid breathing). As a matter of fact, a form of liquid breathing is available in some hospitals as a form of respiratory support to help your lungs heal from specific kinds of injuries. The only thing left to do in order to start mass-producing these fluid immersion crash couches is to scale up production of the special fluid, and engineer a suitable container for both the fluid and a human to occupy (including all the needed life support and medical monitoring interfaces, plus a method to get command inputs out of that container, of course). However, I see such a thing being trialed on fighter aircraft (the aerodynamic design of which is already capable of out-performing the pilot's biological limits) long before it is seen on any spacecraft, because the way things are going we're not likely to see any spacecraft drive systems for at least 50 years or more that are both high thrust enough to cause issues related to acceleration, AND high specific impulse enough to allow burns at high acceleration for the better part of an hour. Basically, I think "torch" type drives as seen in The Expanse aren't gonna be seen until at least 50 years after the first practical spacecraft propulsion systems that derive most of their energy from fusion reactions.

[@AldorEricsson]

@@44R0Ndin Liquid breathing system or not, any squishy meatbag will always lose to a drone in terms of g tolerance. Days of WW2-style dogfights are over.

[@44R0Ndin]

@@AldorEricsson You're right about that, but the politicians are still pretty cagey about making drones able to dogfight. IMO in the future the missiles will be doing all the complex aerobatics, and the solution to incoming missiles will be to have one of your own missiles shoot down that missile (with all of your own missiles able to be used to shoot down either an enemy drone or an incoming missile, interchangeably, at a moment's notice, with the change in tactics all being up to what target type is given to the missile by the drone). That way we can focus all-out on having the missiles be agile, having them use solid fuel rocket-ramjet engines (with thrust vectoring for better missile agility) and therefore getting good enough range out of the missiles (say 10km) and being able to optimize the drone itself for stealth (both IR and wide-band radar) and long flight range. Maybe if there's a little room and/or electrical power left over put some lasers on the drone (not to outright destroy anything, just to distract and/or disable (destructively overload) the seeker head sensor on incoming heat-seeking missiles). This is often called "directed infrared countermeasures", and it's a pretty neat technology.

[@chrisatkinson9621]

@@44R0Ndin 10km is nothing for missile range. Even an AIM-9, which is considered short range air to air, has a 35km range. The AIM-54 is a beyond visual range air to air missile with a 190km range.

[@ltribley]

Found this G-Force comparison interesting with a recent F1 drivers fireball crash experience he did not black out and walked out of the fire alive : PARIS (AP) - Romain Grosjean was going 192 kph (119 mph) when he hit a metal crash barrier and his car exploded into a fireball around him at the Bahrain Grand Prix. The impact was estimated at 67 Gs, a force equivalent to 67 times his body weight.Mar 5, 2021 Shows how advanced safety tech is in F1 that saved his life. Possibly more advanced than our space programs.

[@mgscheue]

That was a huge, scary crash. Of course, though, as dangerous as that was, the g loading wasn’t sustained for long. Followed by a fire, though, like you say.

[@jonnyj.]

Thats not even comparable. Those are INSTANTANEOUS g's. Soyuz reached 20g CONTINUOUS. Those are very, very different things. If they reached 67g instantaneous, they would be completely fine. Also, thinking f1 is more advanced than any space program saftey wise is foolish...

[@techtinkerin]

Great report thanks!😊❤️👍

[@flechette3782]

So these guys were beaten up pretty badly from a trip into space and then had to survive a night on the side of a mountain in Siberia. Lazarov reported wolves in the area. It is a humbling thought that a species can be so advanced as to begin to venture off the planet into space and yet still be possibly eaten by terrestrial predators if something goes wrong.

[@aplelab4708]

yay new scott vid

[@SimakSantana]

Keep grinding.

[@davidharrison7014]

I found this quite interesting and intriguing!!! Wow!

[@BernardWei]

Incredible piece of engineering and luck that both of them survived the way back. It's not the worse space entry, it's the best worse space entry as both of them survived ;-) Great story!

[@zapfan7029]

That bathtub with an individual mold they sit in in the Soyuz really payed off there!

[@AlanTheBeast100]

Aha! I had seen the open lattice on a rocket somewhere and wondered what that was all about! Nice insight.

[@pjosephlthewonder5082]

Though I myself have never researched the history of these types of flights, it does show that even the USSR had a safety mandate that was in place and followed. It does make one wonder about the number of debris fields scattered about the surface of the Earth where a recovery of remains was made in various countries with a space program. Peace

[@djstraylight]

Great story. Once again.. fly safe.

[@Slikx666]

It's just good to know they made it back.

[@Ganiscol]

Only the most loyal soviet cosmonauts would survive such a flight! Well done, tovarishch.

[@chrismurray3038]

Always wondered why there was a scaffolding looking part, hotstaging makes sense

[@CraigGood]

Ugh. I very briefly did 7 gees once. The thought of sustaining 21 is terrifying.

[@andrewreynolds9371]

20+ G's? damn, those boys went through the shit big time.

[@ropersonline]

8:22: "They were in the Atlai Mountains."

[@blackhawks81H]

Cosmonauts historically carried guns in their survival kits, in more modern days they carried a special gun that was kinda a hybrid pistol/rifle/shotgun. But in earlier days they carried a Makarov pistol... Would have been kind of ironic if they were attacked by a wild animal, and Makarov had to use his Makarov. Lol a double Макаров

[@dvv18]

"Makarov" is a very common Russian surname, so…

[@quasarsavage]

Feel bad for Lazarev. Got injured and the user fucked him over and he died early. Makarov went on to live until 03 and even went back to space

[@-jeff-]

A great rundown on an event that could very well have gone much worse! The question is whether the one cosmonaut having never flown again was a medical condition or the colorful comments he was heard to have made about the engine on an open mic on the way down?

[@laprepper]

If you're dealing with 20 g's I think you can say whatever you want 😁

[@-jeff-]

@@laprepper Yeah I think my language might get a bit "colorful" at that point too! 😨

[@trs4u]

I was thinking about the open lattice interstage 2:40 earlier after looking at some monolithic casing+nozzle designs - could gimballing between such a motor and its load work? The pre-launch test would be a sight to behold...

[@eekee6034]

As someone who tested a Duna lander in a suborbital Kerbin flight this morning, I can appreciate this. The first launch was too steep. On reentry, atmospheric forces pushed it to 9G. But my Eve landing yesterday was much worse. It was my very first Eve reentry, and I could only guess at how to handle it. The cargo was a very lightweight drone plane. The carrier was the remains of the transfer stage with its huge Rhino engine. No heat shields. The plan was to make a very shallow entry in retrograde, using the engine to prevent overheating. This went fine for ages, (too long!) but when the overheating finally started, it rapidly got worse. There wasn't enough fuel to keep it at bay for long, so I resigned myself to using the wonderful engine and huge fuel tank as ablative heat shielding, hoping at least the aeroshell base would hold. Engine and tank blew up in rapid succession, and then something happened which I didn't expect: the remaining vehicle lost well over 2500 m/s in under 5 seconds! I wasn't watching the G-force meter, but this works out to over 50 G. Really, I think it was closer to 60 G. And it was fine. No kerbals aboard. The reason for the rapid decelleration was the plane, gantry, reaction wheels and aeroshell base combined probably massed under 2 tons, but the engine and fuel tank totalled 13.5 tons. Also, a 3.75m aeroshell base going the wrong way - with its underside in the airstream - apparently makes an incredible airbrake; both vehicles had one. The plane carrier swung about a lot, but didn't quite flip because it still had all the reaction wheels which kept the launch stage under control. (Yay for bad design! :D ) Also, the plane's wings likely acted as a tail, especially as the elevons were disabled for reentry. The lander got a bit off retrograde, but had more of a structure to act as a tail. Both vehicles had SAS set to retrograde with the navball in surface mode to best match with the atmosphere. That deceleration wasn't even the biggest surprise from the Eve flight. Landing at night in almost completely unknown territory was _hairy,_ to say the least! I'm still "What just happened I don't even" over the incredible series of coincidences which enabled the plane to survive the loss of Commnet while flying over the sea. I used an SAS bug to steer. It was complete coincidence that the trim was set for very nearly level flight when the signal was cut. It's coincidence that there even is such a setting to be found, because the pitch elevons on that plane are so overpowered in Eve's lower atmosphere, pitch trim itself is overpowered as a basic control method.

[@macsandsquid528]

In Mother Russia you don't break records, records break you.

[@saiajin82]

The "Check Yo' Stagin!" killed me, haha. It's been so long since I seen that. I need to get back into KSP but it's so addictive.

[@jasondevine6014]

Relays in that high vibration environment!!

[@jeffsmith5084]

Very informative video. Can you make any connections with the Blue origin and Virgin suborbital flights and their limitations? For example, what g loads result from higher apogee(assuming the booster has the capability? Are there ways to mitigate them. How much time in zero-gee can they practically yield? Plus any other stuff we techno-peasants have no idea about.

[@sylak2112]

They unfortunately did not had that Magic sweet G-force Juice from the expanse. Bring on the G!!

[@SomnolentFudge]

You mentioned a relay closing due to vibration? I'm surprised the relays used in a space craft would even be susceptible to most vibration (if the contact is geared/levered to an equal counter mass the effects of inertia/vibration are mostly canceled. the equivalent of differential wiring to cancel the effects of EMI). Does anyone know the type of relay that they used? or if they changed them in later flights? The knowledge I'm looking for maybe too obscure but just in case anyone knows...

[@selectthedead]

How is it you always find storys where your outro fits so perfectly?