Cosmonauts are struggling to fix the annoying and dangerous Soyuz landing bug, which makes the spacecraft go in a steeper descent and also causes the capsule to sometimes go down with the hatch in front, instead of heat shields first.

Sergei Volkov, the space station's commander, and Oleg Kononenk, lead flight engineer, went on a difficult and dangerous spacewalk to remove a so-called explosive bolt, also known as pyro-bolt. They contain explosives that can be detonated to force them to detach.

However, although it sounds dangerous, Russian experts say there is no real possibility that the charge, which packs about the same power as a M-80 firework, goes off on its own. The pyro-bolt will be stored in a blast-proof container for its trip down to Earth. The steel case has been tested to withstand an accidental detonation. Flight controllers in Moscow told cosmonauts that the explosive bolt "cannot fire," adding that they should not be concerned at all.

The last two Soyuz landings were shorter than normal, or ballistic. In October last year, the plan was for Soyuz to land near the town of Arkalyk but instead touched down some 211 miles west of Arkalyk, making this the first "ballistic" re-entry since the Soyuz TMA-1 spacecraft returned on May 3, 2003, with the space station's sixth full time crew. Touchdown occurred one minute earlier than planned and within 20 minutes all the crew members were extracted successfully and confirmed in good shape.

In April this year, the scenario repeated: the landing was again approximately 295 miles from the expected site. Due to this incident, the arrival of the rescue teams was delayed with approximately 45 minutes. During the descent the crew had experienced gravitational forces up to 10 times those on Earth.

Due to the unplanned rough landing, the antenna burned up and astronauts had to ask for the support of locals in order to call for help. Interfax also reported that the spacecraft entered Earth's atmosphere with the hatch first, where the antenna was also located, instead of going down with its heat shields in front. This also highlights the exceptional sturdiness of the Russian spacecraft, which kept the crew intact without being protected by the heat shield, and going in a much steeper, and hotter, descent.

The Soyuz-TMA is the latest revision of the successful Soyuz spacecraft used by the Russian Federal Space Agency for human spaceflights. Unlike earlier models, it features a glass cockpit and can accommodate taller people. It actually features custom-fitted seat liners for each crewmember's couch/seat, which are individually molded to fit each person's body for maximum comfort and safety. The Soyuz-TMA version entered service after 2003, but the initial Soyuz design dates back to the 1960s.