SPACE Russian flight control operators had lost a few hours after the launch of the craft …
Reduced fragments over the Pacific. The unmanned cargo ship Progress finished Friday its long fall to Earth disintegrating in the atmosphere, safe end to the ISS but as a further humiliating defeat for the Russian space industry.
The Progress M-27M spacecraft was supposed to dock last week at the International Space Station (ISS) for the supply, but the Russian flight control operators had lost a few hours after the launch of the craft by a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
The six astronauts on the ISS still have reservations
The Progress then commenced a long dive to Earth whirling on itself, displaying uncontrollable reactions. The Russian space agency has not been able to predict the exact time and place of his fall, which was to pass over Paris, Cologne and Krakow. However, it has not shown concern, almost all of the same type spacecraft disintegrated in the atmosphere or landing in the oceans, which occupy most of the surface of the Earth.
The six astronauts to the ISS, the spacecraft was to supply, are not endangered by the loss of the cargo, even with several months of reserves. A supply ship Dragon, the US company SpaceX, must deliver to the ISS at the earliest on June 19 about 2.2 tons of scientific equipment and supplies.
A new blow to the Russian space industry
The loss of the Progress, however, is a new blow for the Russian space industry, a strategic sector that historically has been the pride of the country, already facing in recent years a series of humiliating setbacks. For cargo ship came to rest on Earth, 2.6 billion rubles, or 458 million euros will have been spent.
A commission of inquiry was set up to determine the exact circumstances of the loss of the Progress. It must present its findings at the latest on May 13, according to Roskosmos.
No comments:
Post a Comment