 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
Proton Rocket To Launch Glonass Satellites Friday
Moscow (RIA Novosti) Oct 26, 2007 The delayed launch of three Glonass satellites on board a Proton rocket is set to go ahead on Friday from the Baikonur space center, a Khrunichev State Research and Development statement said Thursday. The Proton K rocket, which has been on the launch pad in Kazakhstan since Monday, will lift off at 11.35 a.m. Moscow time (7.35 a.m. GMT) October 26. Astana lifted a ban Wednesday on Proton launches from the Baikonur space center, which Russia rents from the ex-Soviet Central Asian country. The ban was imposed following a September 6 crash of a Proton-M rocket for which Kazakhstan is seeking 1.5 billion rubles ($60 million) in compensation. Anatoly Perminov, head of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos), told RIA Novosti the launch was postponed until Friday due to Kazakhstan's Republic Day, which is celebrated on October 25. Perminov congratulated Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov on the national holiday by telephone and thanked him for lifting the ban. The Proton is a heavy rocket which uses highly toxic heptyl as fuel. The rocket that crashed last month was carrying almost 219 metric tons of the fuel at the time of the crash, which contaminated a 32,000-hectare area of land. Kazakh authorities said on October 15 that they had completed decontamination work at the crash site. Glonass (Global Navigation Satellite System) is a Russian equivalent of the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS), which is designed for both military and civilian use, and allows users to identify their positions in real time. A total of 9.88 billion rubles ($380 million) was allocated for Glonass from the federal budget in 2007, and 4.7 billion ($181 million) in 2006. The system is to become fully operational by 2008.
Source: RIA Novosti Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links All about the robots on Earth and beyond!
Can A Robot Find A Rock. Interview With David Wettergreen: Part IV
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Oct 26, 2007In the final segment of our four-part interview with David Wettergreen, an associate research professor at the Carnegie Mellon University Field Robotics Center, he explains why it's not so easy for a robot to find a rock. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
