Satellite Landing Delayed By Cable Failure – Russian Control Centre Employee

Text of report by Russian news agency RIA Novosti

Moscow, 25 September: The microcapsule from the biosatellite Foton-M number 3, which is carrying the first results of an experiment featuring animals and insects, has failed to land on Earth on time due to a problem with the cable it was to be lowered by, a Mission Control Centre representative told RIA-Novosti on Tuesday [25 September].

“The microcapsule separated from Foton on time. The 30-km-long cable with which the capsule was to be lowered to the Earth’s surface then started to unwind. The cable, however, was only unwound to a length of 8.5 km. An order was then issued for it to be cut. The capsule now is in an orbit. Its parameters are being established,” said the source.

“For us to be able to determine its orbit for its subsequent descent to the Earth it has to make several revolutions around the Earth,” he said.

The Mission Control Centre representative also said that the capsule’s landing course (site) could be changed “because currently it (the capsule) is out of control”. He expressed hope that the capsule will land on Tuesday as planned, albeit “later in the day”.

Earlier Nikolay Sokolov, head of the Foton-M satellite flight control, told RIA-Novosti that the capsule was to land near the town of Derzhavinsk, Kazakhstan, 400-km west of Astana, at 1155 Moscow time [0755 gmt].

[Russia intends to carry on with experiments involving the lowering of cargo from orbit by cable, Konstantin Elkin, representative of the central research machine-building institute, has told Interfax-AVN. "Experiments involving cables must continue. In Russia there are proposals to this effect, for example, the Vulkan MK, Tros-1 and Tros-2 experiments," said Elkin. He said the plan was to conduct these experiments on board the International Space Station. Elkin added however that these experiments had not been included in the short-term space research plan.]

Originally published by RIA Novosti, Moscow, in Russian 1051 25 Sep 07.

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