Fwd: 3 versions of Proton crash

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: July 6, 2013 11:25:16 AM GMT-06:00
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: 3 versions of Proton crash

 

Russian watchdog says country's space program is inefficient

 

July 5, 2013 at 3:29 PM

 

MOSCOW, July 5 (UPI) — Russia's space program is ineffective, with poor management of both its space activities and the funds budgeted for projects, a parliamentary watchdog said.

 

Poor management of space programs, projects, contracts and expenses made Russia's Federal Space Program inefficient despite the increase in its budget in the past three years, the parliament's Audit Chamber said in a statement.

 

The chamber's review found only 40 percent of the goals set by the Federal Space Program were achieved in 2010, 66.7 percent in 2011 and 73.3 percent last year, RIA Novosti reported Friday.

 

The chamber criticized the federal Roscosmos space agency for relegating control over major space projects, including the production and launches of Proton-M rockets, to individual state-run or private companies.

 

A Proton-M rocket carrying three Glonass GPS satellites exploded shortly after launch Tuesday from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.

 

"Roscosmos is among the biggest and least disciplined [of government agencies] that blatantly ignore regulatory requirements and best practices in state procurement orders," the Audit Chamber said.

 

"Harsh decisions" must be taken because Russia's rocket and space industry "cannot continue to exist in its current form," Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who oversees the defense and aerospace industry, said.

 

© 2013 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 

 

 

Premature launch said likely cause of Russian rocket failure

 

MOSCOW, July 5 (UPI) — A premature launch may have caused the recent failure of a Proton-M rocket and the loss of three satellites, a Russian space industry source told RIA Novosti.

 

The source, requesting anonymity, said a special commission was investigating why the rocket carrying three Glonass navigation satellites veered off course and exploded shortly after launch Tuesday from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.

 

Several possible scenarios are being investigated, the source said.

 

"One of them is that, for yet unknown reasons, an early start took place and resulted in the failure. The control system treated it [the early start] as an emergency situation ... and started to divert the rocket away from the launch pad, to a safer distance, just the way it was programmed.

 

"This version [of events] now prevails," the source said, adding other possibilities are also being carefully studied.

 

The incident was the second unsuccessful launch of a Proton-M rocket carrying satellites for Russia's flagship Glonass GPS system in the last 3 years, RIA Novosti said.

 

© 2013 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 

 

 

ITAR-TASS

 

Proton rocket blasted off 0,4 sec earlier than planned

 

MOSCOW, July 5 (Itar-Tass) - The Proton-M rocket blasted off from the launch pad 0.4 seconds earlier than planned, Roscosmos head Vladimir Popovkin told reporters.

 

It can be said definitely for the present that the rocket blasted off earlier than planned. When asked how earlier, he answered "0.4 seconds."

 

The Proton started taking off when the engines did not begin to work as planned, and combustion chamber pressure was 90 atm instead of 150 atm. First, the sequence diagram to start the rocket began working. As the rocket did not work as planned, the regular sequence diagram began working, and at the moment, something happened, he said.

 

© ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. 

 

 

ITAR-TASS

 

Three versions of Proton crash under consideration

 

MOSCOW, July 5 (Itar-Tass) - The commission investigating the Proton-M crash is considering three main versions, Roscosmos head Vladimir Popovkin told reporters.

 

There are several versions. No one is ruled out, Popovkin said.

 

These are the starting equipment, the control system and the rocket propulsion.

 

No version is preferable. The group is considering all the factors and their influence they could have on the possible cause. The versions will be checked in experiments, and a conclusion will be drawn to work out a plan of measures, he said.

 

A Proton-M booster carrying three Glonass-M satellites blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome at 06:38, Moscow time on Tuesday. Immediately after the launch, it deviated from the trajectory and began to disintegrate in midair. It fell some 2.5 kilometers from the launch site and exploded. Roskosmos said the accident occurred in the 17th second of the flight because of emergency engine shutdown. An aerospace source said the accident had not been caused by a breakdown of the DM-03 accelerator unit.

 

A heptyl cloud formed after the explosion. The launch pad and the launch crew were not harmed, and no casualties were reported at the crash site. 

 

© ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved.