Three strikes and you're *out*...
by
TripMaster+Monkey
·
· Score: 1, Flamebait
From TFA:
The world's first solar sail spacecraft (search) crashed back to Earth when its booster rocket failed less than two minutes after Tuesday's takeoff, Russian space officials said Wednesday.
In 1999, Russia launched a similar experiment with a sun-reflecting device from its Mir space station, but the deployment mechanism jammed and the device burned up in the atmosphere.
In 2001, Russia again attempted a similar experiment, but the device failed to separate from the booster and burned in the atmosphere.
(Note to self: russians and satellites seem to be a bad mix...)
Seriously, though, this is a damned shame...although at $4 mil, this was a relatively inexpensive debacle. We could be ready to fail again in just a few years.:P
(One more thing: why are we linking to Fox News for our stories? I feel dirty now.)
Slashdot Mirror
From TFA:
(Note to self: russians and satellites seem to be a bad mix...)
Seriously, though, this is a damned shame...although at $4 mil, this was a relatively inexpensive debacle. We could be ready to fail again in just a few years.
(One more thing: why are we linking to Fox News for our stories? I feel dirty now.)
____
~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey