Table of Contents

The Soyuz TMA Capsule

The Soyuz capsule is divided in three modules

1) The orbital module

• contains life support system equipment (water, food, toilet), rendezvous and docking equipment, vehicle system automatic equipment and a television camera
• is the crew's living area during non-dynamic flight phases
• is the crew's entry and exit during dock phase on the space station
• separates from the descent module after undocking from the space station and burns up in the atmosphere upon re-entry

2) The descent module

• is where the crew sits in a reclining position during ascent, orbital manoeuvres (correction burns, approach and docking, etc.) and re-entry
• contains life support system equipment, autonomous flight devices and instrumentation (command panel) and the entry control system
• is the only module with thermal protection for carrying the crew back to Earth

3) The instrumentation /propulsion module

• is divided into three compartments; the intermediate, instrumentation and propulsion compartments which contain oxygen tanks, electrical and thermal control systems, computers, thruster jets, infrared sensors, external radiators, and solar array attachments
• separates from the descent module after undocking from the space station and burns up in the atmosphere upon re-entry