Shadowfax
<b>mod cow</b>
MOSCOW, Russia -- A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying a research satellite exploded seconds after blast-off, killing one person in a setback that could hit the International Space Station programme.
The 300-tonne unmanned Soyuz-U launch vehicle exploded 29 seconds after take-off from Russia's Arctic Plesetsk cosmodrome late on Tuesday, its blazing debris showering onto the launchpad, a spokesman for the Emergency Situations Ministry said.
A 20-year-old serviceman was killed by the blast's shockwave and eight other people were injured, defence ministry officials told Reuters.
It was not immediately clear what caused the accident, which damaged the launch pad.
The rocket carried a satellite with European research equipment and was not connected with the orbiting international station, manned at present by two Russians and one American.
But an official at Russia's mission control, which monitors the $90 billion ISS programme, said the accident could raise a question mark over the next planned flight to the station.
"Serious conclusions will have to be made as a modified version of this same rocket is due to take a group of cosmonauts to the ISS shortly," the official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters.
Three Russian cosmonauts are scheduled to blast off for the ISS on October 28 on a brief mission to fit a new rescue capsule to the station. The Russian-made capsule has to be replaced every six months.
"There are no plans as yet to postpone the flight," Sergei Gorbunov, spokesman for Russia's top space authority Rosaviakosmos told Reuters.
"Serious conclusions will have to be made as a modified version of this same rocket is due to take a group of cosmonauts to the ISS shortly," the official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters.
^ that's complete CRAP! I freakin' hate CNN for publishing stuff like that. The Soyuz-U is SO different from the Soyuz rocket that is used to launch manned spacecraft. That last rocket is tested and maintained and developed in a much more intense way than the Soyuz-U. Only thing they have in common is the NAME. The TECHNOLOGY is SO different!
But nooooooooo, CNN needs a story and starts putting that kind of quotes by lamers who don't want to be identified so it looks more like a freaking cover-up of the RKA
God, I HATE CNN sometimes
Sorry for my reply, but this kind of things really piss me off. The Soyuz version used for manned spaceflight is just as safe as the space shuttle, and even more reliable perhaps, looking at the accident/launch ratio.
LAME SOURCE
