Soyuz Skipper Admits He Made an Error

MOSCOW — The commander of a Soviet space mission that nearly became marooned in space admitted Thursday that he erred by improperly restarting a braking rocket during a failed landing maneuver.

Veteran astronaut Vladimir Lyakhov and crew mate Abdul Ahad Mohmand, the first Afghan in space, managed to land their Soyuz TM-5 capsule safely in Soviet Central Asia on Wednesday after 26 hours stranded in orbit.

Lyakhov told Soviet and Afghan journalists at Baikonur Space Center that it would be wrong to jump to conclusions on the cause for the problems that plagued the space mission and forced the landing to be postponed from Tuesday.

But Lyakhov added: “Errors were made by the commander. I want to say there is fault.”

His remarks were broadcast on the evening television news.

Izvestia Suggestion

The government newspaper Izvestia had suggested that Lyakhov should have taken manual control over re-entry from a computer that was malfunctioning during the second of two landing attempts Tuesday.

Lyakhov, in remarks at the Baikonur news conference carried by the official news agency Tass, said an infrared sensor in the Soyuz guidance system malfunctioned during the first attempt to fire an engine that brakes the capsule so it can safely pass through the atmosphere.

“The computer was unable to judge whether the spacecraft was correctly oriented, and the engine was shut off,” the cosmonaut said.

A second attempt was made later. The braking engine fired under automatic control but then shut off.

“When the engine switched off for the second time,” Lyakhov said, “I very much wanted to start the landing and I turned it on for a second time. Of course, in the back of my mind, I realized that turning on the engine would cause complications. I am not excusing myself. There was fault there.”

The landing was put off until Wednesday.

Shortly after landing, Lyakhov said he and Mohmand had wanted to make a third attempt at landing Tuesday but that the craft might have touched down outside Soviet territory. He said the crew preferred to wait until the landing could be assured in its designated spot, in the Soviet republic of Kazakhstan.

‘Purely Human Way’

Deputy flight chief Viktor Blagov told Izvestia that backup landing sites could have been used, so there was no rush to fire the re-entry engine. Then, appearing to defend Lyakhov, Blagov said it “could be understood in a purely human way” why the commander was anxious to land at that time and place.

Lyakhov, 47, a military pilot, flew in space for 175 days in 1979 and 150 days in 1983.

The public questioning of a cosmonaut’s performance, and Lyakhov’s admission of mistakes on the widely watched television news program, were highly unusual. It reflected Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s new policy of glasnost , or openness.

Cramped Position

At the news conference, the cosmonauts also described what it was like to be stranded in space for 26 hours with diminishing air, food and water supplies. They said they had to remain in their seats in the cramped capsule in the same position as for a launch.

“Immobility was the biggest problem,” Tass reported.

The cosmonauts had an emergency supply of food and water but decided not to use it until absolutely necessary, Tass said.

Other reports have said the capsule had no toilet, virtually no room to move around and only enough air for two days.