Soyuz engineers at Progress were trying to save a research satellite after it failed to respond to commands, which has left it in an improper orbit, Russian news agencies said.
The Foton-M satellite was launched on July 19 on a two-month mission to study the effect of weightlessness on plants and insects.
The satellite carries containers with living organisms, including five geckos, fruit flies and fungi, which are supposed to be jettisoned after two months in orbit and land in Russia.
There is no update on the status of the living cargo, since the containers are not designed to broadcast any telemetry while in space.
The mishap is the latest in series of setbacks that has plagued Russia's once-famed space programme.
Containers with biological experiment equipment being loaded into the Foton-M satellite.
Photo by the Institute for Biomedical Problems.
The satellite carries containers with living organisms, including five geckos, fruit flies and fungi, which are supposed to be jettisoned after two months in orbit and land in Russia.
There is no update on the status of the living cargo, since the containers are not designed to broadcast any telemetry while in space.
The mishap is the latest in series of setbacks that has plagued Russia's once-famed space programme.
Photo by the Institute for Biomedical Problems.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment