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davispw t1_j1fgyyv wrote

Reply to comment by Vagabond_Grey in Russia may need to send a rescue mission to the International Space Station for 3 astronauts after a leak in their Soyuz capsule by A_Lazko

Minimize, not maximize. I believe they can choose shorter or longer options for the descent, which I imagine depends on how perfectly the ISS’s orbit is aligned with the desired recovery zone, which would determine how many orbits the Soyuz needs to do on its own before deorbiting.

Edit: to clarify—minimize time to deorbit, while maximizing time in the Earth’s shadow since the Sun’s heat is the main thing the coolant loop needs to deal with.

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Vanimo t1_j1h3gr6 wrote

Minimising means that you need to deal with all the energy of re-entry (heat) in a short time. So you need a high dissipation rate, which is exactly the problem here.

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