- 23 Aug 2003 16:55
#23449
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Another setback for Brazil in trying to become South America's first space power. With America's rockets still grounded(?) that leaves just the Russian Federation and the European Space agency as those capable of putting satellites into orbit.
On a side note, once capable of putting rockets into orbit one is also capable of building ICBMs...
Originally published here: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/ame ... ory=436381
On a side note, once capable of putting rockets into orbit one is also capable of building ICBMs...
Explosion on rocket launch pad kills 21
AP
23 August 2003
A rocket exploded on the launch pad while undergoing final pre-launch tests in Brazil, killing at least 21 people and injuring more than 20.
The blast last night at the remote base in north-eastern Brazil killed mostly civilian technicians and destroyed two research satellites, Defence Minster Jose Veigas Filho said. Some of the bodies were burned beyond recognition, he said.
"The launching pad collapsed and the technicians were working there, so everything indicates they died," Mr Veigas said.
Globo television showed footage of a plume of smoke rising high into the sky over the seaside Alcantara Launch Center, 1,500 miles north of Sao Paulo.
The explosion occurred after one of the four main motors of the rocket was ignited for reasons still unknown, he said.
The $2.2 million VLS-3 rocket was scheduled to be launched next week with the two satellites.
The blast came as technicians were putting the finishing touches on a rocket that would make Brazil the first Latin American nation to put a satellite in space on its own.
"We had just done two days of tests and everything went well — 100 per cent. Everybody is devastated," said Air Force Colonel Romeo Brasileiro.
It was Brazil's third attempt to send a satellite into space on its own rocket.
A rocket launched in November 1997 crashed in the Atlantic Ocean after suffering engine problems shortly after blast off.
In December 1999, another Brazilian rocket developed problems and failed three minutes after take-off. Officials remotely destroyed the rocket.
Brazil has operated a scientific space programme since the early 1970s and sent its first satellite into space in 1993 on board a US Pegasus rocket. The country's space programme centres on gravity research, meteorology, telecommunications and environmental research.
Presidential spokesman Andre Singer said: "Brazil's space program is an important scientific and technological project of our country. Today is a day of mourning."
Alcantara is considered a near-ideal launch site because of its location, just 2.3 degrees south of the equator. The Earth's rotation is faster at the equator, which helps propel rockets into space with less fuel and with heavier payloads.
About 15,000 people are currently employed in Brazil's aerospace industry.
Originally published here: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/ame ... ory=436381
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