Related News
Glitch delays return to Earth for 3 from space
Source: Agencies |
September 25, 2010, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
TWO Russians and a United States astronaut aborted a return to Earth yesterday when their space capsule failed to separate from the International Space Station.
"This situation has never occurred before," a spokewoman at Russian Mission Control near Moscow said, as space officials scrambled to determine the cause.
NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson and two Russian crew mates climbed into a Soyuz capsule hitched to the station for the descent, but latches holding the craft to a docking port failed to open, the spokeswoman said.
Russia's space agency chief Anatoly Perminov told reporters at Mission Control that Dyson, Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Korniyenko's return to Earth after nearly six months in space had been rescheduled for today.
The docking mechanism did not function because the station's computer sent a false signal indicating the hatch between station and capsule was not fully sealed, Perminov said.
He said technicians had found no problem with the seals, and suggested they were still puzzling over what exactly went wrong.
A second undocking attempt "could have gone ahead today, but we need additional time to make sure we have reliable information about the problem," Perminov told a terse news conference at Mission Control.
"There is no point in rushing," he said. Perminov refused to take questions, saying he did not want to fuel rumors.
Russian Mission Control and the US space agency NASA's Mission Control in Houston agreed the three crew members would go back to the space station and await a fresh undocking attempt today, NASA said.
Three other crew members, Russian Fyodor Yurchikhin and NASA astronauts Doug Wheelock and Shannon Walker, would remain aboard the station as planned after today's departure.
"I see no technical problem on the station or anywhere that would threaten the crew," Perminov said.
"This situation has never occurred before," a spokewoman at Russian Mission Control near Moscow said, as space officials scrambled to determine the cause.
NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson and two Russian crew mates climbed into a Soyuz capsule hitched to the station for the descent, but latches holding the craft to a docking port failed to open, the spokeswoman said.
Russia's space agency chief Anatoly Perminov told reporters at Mission Control that Dyson, Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Korniyenko's return to Earth after nearly six months in space had been rescheduled for today.
The docking mechanism did not function because the station's computer sent a false signal indicating the hatch between station and capsule was not fully sealed, Perminov said.
He said technicians had found no problem with the seals, and suggested they were still puzzling over what exactly went wrong.
A second undocking attempt "could have gone ahead today, but we need additional time to make sure we have reliable information about the problem," Perminov told a terse news conference at Mission Control.
"There is no point in rushing," he said. Perminov refused to take questions, saying he did not want to fuel rumors.
Russian Mission Control and the US space agency NASA's Mission Control in Houston agreed the three crew members would go back to the space station and await a fresh undocking attempt today, NASA said.
Three other crew members, Russian Fyodor Yurchikhin and NASA astronauts Doug Wheelock and Shannon Walker, would remain aboard the station as planned after today's departure.
"I see no technical problem on the station or anywhere that would threaten the crew," Perminov said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
