Russian Astronauts Remove Explosive Bolt From Soyuz Capsule

Russian astronauts Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononenko faced an unprecedented mission on Thursday: cutting into the insulation of their descent capsule to remove a bolt that contained the same amount of force as a large M-80 firecracker.

The dangerous mission was performed as Mission Control guided the two astronauts, assuring them that the job was necessary to ensure safe return to Earth in the Soyuz capsule.

"You should not be concerned at all," Mission Control radioed.

NASA insisted that the two astronauts were never in any danger while removing the bolt. Both astronauts are currently taking part in their first spaceflight.

A high-ranking flight director at Russian Mission Control outside Moscow told the crew Wednesday that the bolt could withstand shocks of up to 100 times the force of gravity and would not fire, even if they hit it with a big hammer.

The bolt was placed in a stainless steel blast-proof container where it will be kept until the Soyuz returns to Earth this fall.

The past two Soyuz descents have been steep, off-course and bone-jarring, and the Russian Space Agency wants to avoid the problem when Volkov and Kononenko fly home in October.

The men took out a serrated knife to cut into the insulation surrounding the bolt. The tool is normally shunned by spacewalkers because it may be possible to compromise the astronauts’ pressurized suits or gloves.

The men used a wrench to remove the 3-inch pyrotechnic bolt, which is one of 10 used to separate two parts of the module during re-entry. During Soyuz descents this past April and in October 2007, these two sections did not separate properly, leading to so-called ballistic entries that submitted the crews to far higher gravity forces than normal.

By disabling the bolts in this suspect location, there should be no mechanical hang-up during the October descent, officials said.

During the six-hour spacewalk, American Gregory Chamitoff remained inside the Soyuz in the case of an emergency situation.

We dream of a lot of wild things to do, and after much analysis, sometimes we do them and sometimes we don’t," Mike Suffredini, NASA’s space station program manager, said earlier this week.

"We have quite a bit of confidence in this particular case that we’re perfectly safe," Suffredini told reporters.

The two Russians will do another spacewalk on Tuesday to perform much more routine space station work.