Russia botches 5th rocket launch in a year

[The_Assimilator]

http://news.discovery.com/space/russia-botches-another-rocket-launch-111223.html

Three hours before a new crew arrived at the International Space Station on Friday, bringing the outpost back up to full staff for the first time in months, Russia racked up its fifth launch accident within a year.

A Soyuz-2 rocket carrying a military communications satellite failed to reach orbit after blastoff from the Plesetsk space center in northern Russia. The botched launch is again due to an upper-stage engine problem.

Though the motor is different from the one used on the Soyuz rockets that fly Progress cargo and Soyuz capsules to the station, the trend is troubling.

...

Russian launch troubles had kept the station short-staffed for most of the past three months. Crew flights to the station were delayed while Russian engineers scrambled to find and fix the cause of an Aug. 24 Soyuz rocket failure that claimed a Progress cargo ship. The rocket is virtually identical to one used to fly Soyuz crew capsules.

That accident was traced to contamination or a blockage in a fuel line. Russia beefed up its inspection and quality control systems and resumed flying on Oct. 30.

...

The string of launch accidents include the Nov. 9 flight of Phobos-Grunt, an ambitious mission to return soil samples from the Martian moon Phobos. The probe was left stranded in Earth orbit after an upper-stage rocket failed to fire to send the spacecraft on its way to Mars. It is expected to crash back into Earth’s atmosphere between Jan. 9 and 16.

Other launch accidents include two Proton rocket failures in December 2010 and August; and the February failure of a Rokot vehicle.

Sounds like they need to beef up their "quality control" (isn't that an oxymoron in Russia?) even more! I'm just waiting for the first failed launch that results in the deaths of US astronauts. I believe we'll see a resurrection of the Space Shuttle program very quickly after that happens.

Bonus failure: http://www.news24.com/SciTech/News/Russian-satellite-hits-cosmonaut-street-20111224

 

[Juice]

Bonus failure: http://www.news24.com/SciTech/News/Russian-satellite-hits-cosmonaut-street-20111224

"In an extraordinary irony, the official said that the house was located on Cosmonaut Street, named after the heroic spacemen of the Soviet and Russian space programme."

I think it should be compulsory for journalists to write a test on the difference between IRONY and COINCIDENCE...

Juice

 

[ponder]

I'm just waiting for the first failed launch that results in the deaths of US astronauts. I believe we'll see a resurrection of the Space Shuttle program very quickly after that happens.

The russians use different rockets for their manned missions. The russians last had a manned flight accident in 1971 claiming 3 lives, prior to that there was one death in 1967. The USA on the other hand has lost more people during flight and more recently as well, 1986 & 2003 with 14 lives lost. When it comes to non-mission related deaths the USA wins hands down.

Without the russians there would have been no ISS in the first place or it would have taken a whole lot longer as they had all the expertise when it comes to space stations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_accidents_and_incidents


.

 

[Lounger]

The russians use different rockets for their manned missions. The russians last had a manned flight accident in 1971 claiming 3 lives, prior to that there was one death in 1967. The USA on the other hand has lost more people during flight and more recently as well, 1986 & 2003 with 14 lives lost. When it comes to non-mission related deaths the USA wins hands down.

Without the russians there would have been no ISS in the first place or it would have taken a whole lot longer as they had all the expertise when it comes to space stations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_accidents_and_incidents


.

Awww, now you've ruined his anti-Russian story.
The Europeans also lost some rockets too. Most notable was Ariane 5.

The INS attempted to convert a 64-bit number to a 16-
bit number without checking that 16 bits was sufficient
to hold the value. This caused a runtime error.

If only all mistakes were so stupid.

 

[killadoob]

Why do you say you are just waiting for US peeps to die?

You make it sound like nasa launches 100% and nobody ever dies.

 

[The_Assimilator]

I'm not gloating about anything, I posted this because I'm very worried. As it stands, there is only 1 nation currently capable of delivering personnel to and from the ISS - Russia. If there is a fatal accident involving Soyuz, the program will almost certainly be shut down (for at least a time) for investigations, and that means no-one going into space. Not good at all.

@ponder, I am aware the Russians have a very good safety record with Soyuz, but 5 launch vehicle losses in a year can't be overlooked. It's not just safety, it's capital losses.

As for what Russia has achieved in terms of space stations... IMO their endeavours in that regard are far more important than any moon landing. OPSEK is planned to be the first station to be capable of constructing spacecraft for manned flights to Mars - this is the kind of vision NASA needs.

 

[killadoob]

I'm just waiting for the first failed launch that results in the deaths of US astronauts. I believe we'll see a resurrection of the Space Shuttle program very quickly after that happens.

That sounds to me like you are saying the russians are the only ones who could kill people going into space. I am too lazy to google but i am fairly sure nasa has had their fair share of accidents.

Anyways it's all good. We have very little clue as to how we will ever travel beyond the space station.