This morning a Russian Proton rocket with three satellites aboard crashed after lift-off. Here's the raw video of what happened.
If I were a US astronaut scheduled to climb aboard a Russian rocket for a trip to the International Space Station, I might be considering a career change right about now . . .
Peter
Fought with inherent danger is the quote that keeps coming to mind...
ReplyDeleteNo, I believe that we don't use that rocket to fly astronauts to the ISS.
ReplyDeleteThat was a Proton-M rocket that blew up. The Soyuz booster is what people ride to the ISS.
Yep, what Misfit said. It's not the same rocket. The proton has had problems before, the Soyuz is incredibly reliable.
ReplyDeleteWhoops.
ReplyDeleteThat is the 5th Proton loss this year. A horrible accident rate by any standard.
ReplyDeleteBT: Jimmy T sends.
And how many Soviet / Russian Cosmonauts have died in Launch Failures in the entire history of their Space Program? None.
ReplyDeleteIn fact TWO were saved during the Soyuz T-10-1 launch. To date, the only case where a launch escape system was fired with a crew aboard while the rocket was still on the pad.
And how many American Astronauts have died during Launch Failures? Seven, the entire crew of the Challenger.
Not to mention the Seven dead crew of Columbia who died re-entry. Plus the three dead of the Apollo One Fire.
So that is SEVENTEEN dead Americans versus FOUR dead Russians. Soyuz 1 (one) and Soyuz 11 (three).
Go peddle your FUD somewhere else today, because I'm not buying. And I'm an American.