NST Online: Latest
NST Online: Latest |
| Russia's space industry may face overhaul after cargo ship crash Posted: 24 Aug 2011 09:29 PM PDT MOSCOW: A Russian Progress cargo ship crashed into Siberia after failing to reach the right orbit on Wednesday, reports China's news agency Xinhua.
The Progress M-12M unmanned freighter was launched to the International Space Station from Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan on Wednesday. It was expected to reach a near-Earth orbit about nine minutes after launch. However, after the 325th second of the flight, which was just a few seconds before the vessel should reach the orbit, the ground control centre lost it.
The malfunction of the Soyuz-U rocket's engine was generally believed to be the cause of the accident, according to local media. A source in the space industry said the spaceship had sent a breakdown report while separating from the Soyuz rocket. Some unconfirmed reports said the fuel tank of the booster leaked and the engine was automatically turned off to avoid an explosion.
The wreckage of the Progress cargo ship has already fallen in southern Siberia's Altai Republic, where a big explosion was heard by locals, reported RIA Novosti news agency. A state investigation committee has been formed to look into the first ever loss of a Progress freighter. The unprecedented accident raises concerns over the reserves of the six crew members on board the ISS. The ship was loaded with over 3.5 tons of supplies for the ISS, including scientific materials, oxygen, water and food. According to Russia's Ground Control, the loss of these supplies will not affect the ISS crew as there are enough stocks of necessities for two to three months. Also, there is no need for the premature return of the crew, said Vladimir Solovyov, a space official. However, it still casts some shadow over the ISS programme that relies on Russia exclusively following the retirement of U.S. shuttles. A source from the Russian space industry said the scheduled launches of the Soyuz rockets are likely to be suspended until the reasons for the accident are established. This means that current crew members of the ISS would likely stay longer in space than planned, as the new members might not be able to replace them on schedule, the source explained. Solovyov said the launch of the next Progress is scheduled for Oct 28. So far, Roscosmos has refrained from comments regarding the possible halt of manned missions aboard Soyuz carrier rockets. "Comments will follow. Now it is necessary to determine the causes of today's abortive launch of a Soyuz-u carrier rocket with the Progress M-2M transport ship," Roscosmos told Itar-Tass news agency. Local media raised the prospect of a major reshuffle in Russia' s space industry as the country has lost a total of six space vehicles over the past nine months. On Aug 18, a carrier rocket, Proton-M, failed to deliver to the orbit communication satellite Express-AM4. Earlier in February, Russia had lost a satellite named Geo-IK2. In December 2010, a booster malfunction resulted in the loss of three satellites in the global positioning and navigation system GLONASS. -- BERNAMA |
| Malaysians safe as unusual quake shakes New York Posted: 24 Aug 2011 09:21 PM PDT NEW YORK: The Malaysian community in and around New York is reported safe after an earthquake shook the city on Monday.
Sources at the Malaysian consulate general in New York told Bernama that they had not heard of any injuries, serious or otherwise, to Malaysians caused by the tremor which recorded 5.8 magnitude on the Richter scale and lasted for some 30 seconds. Brig-Gen Ng Chin Huat, the defence advisor at Malaysia's permanent mission to the United Nations in New York, said that he did not, at first, take cognizance of the tremor but later realized what had happened. "It was an unusual experience," he said.
There was a very mild tremor of 3.9 magnitude on Nov 30 last year and a 4.7 magnitude tremor on Jan 9, 1992, both of which passed off hardly noticed by anyone except those responsible for weather reports and geological surveys. The quake's epicenter was near Richmond, Virginia, which is much closer to Washington DC where the Malaysian embassy is located. Nevertheless, despite the earthquake's epicenter being in Virginia, it was felt as far south as Jacksonville in Florida as well as far west as in Memphis and far north as in Toronto, Canada.
This earthquake, described by locals as "un-Californian", was different from the tremors which take place with greater frequency on the west coast, and are confined to the epicenter and places in its direct proximity. The quake let loose panic amongst New Yorkers who, though accustomed to the vagaries of the climate such as snow-storms, torrential rains and heat-waves, have rarely known an earthquake. There were no reports of any damages in New York City caused by the quake except to a water tower in Red Hook. -- BERNAMA |
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