Fwd: Proton crash was due to human error

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: July 9, 2013 8:03:08 PM GMT-06:00
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Proton crash was due to human error

 

 

 

July 09, 2013 14:28

Proton-M crash was due to human error - source (Part 2)

MOSCOW. July 9 (Interfax-AVN) - The crash of a Proton-M rocket shortly after take off on July 2 was due to a human error, a source close to experts probing the accident told Interfax-AVN.

"The angular velocity sensors were wired up with the wrong polarity. Therefore, the rocket was orientated incorrectly," he said.

A Proton-M carrier rocket with three GLONASS-M satellites blasted off from Site 81 at the Baikonur cosmodrome on July 2. It veered off trajectory shortly after launch, exploded and fell apart. The wreckage came down not far from the launch site.

The project to make the rocket and three GLONASS satellites, and to prepare their launch cost Russia about 4.4 billion rubles.

Launch services with the use of Proton-M rockets and Briz-M upper stages are provided by the ILS company. Proton-M rockets and Briz-M upper stages are manufactured by the Khrunichev space center.

Sd mk

 

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15:04 09/07/2013

 

Booster rocket accident caused by control system malfunction

MOSCOW, July 9 (Itar-Tass) - The Proton-M booster rocket accident occurred because of control system malfunction, an aerospace source told Itar-Tass on Tuesday.

"Of course, it's a human factor. During the assembly of the rocket, wrong parameters were set, which resulted in incorrect command to the rocket control system," the source said.

"The Proton-M was given the wrong input because of sloppy work. Perhaps, the control system itself is beyond reproach, and the error was made during the assembly," the aerospace official added.

Currently, a crisis commission is continuing the probe. The Roskosmos federal aerospace agency has not commented on possible causes of the accident yet.

A Proton-M booster carrying three Glonass-M satellites blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome at 06:38, Moscow time on July 2. Immediately after the launch, it deviated from the trajectory and began to disintegrate in midair. It fell some 2.5 kilometers from the launch site and exploded. Roskosmos said the accident occurred in the 17th second of the flight because of emergency engine shutdown. An aerospace source said the accident had not been caused by a breakdown of the DM-03 accelerator unit.

A heptyl cloud formed after the explosion. The launch pad and the launch crew were not harmed, and no casualties were reported at the crash site. The commission which is investigating the accident is led by Deputy Roskosmos director Alexander Lopatin.

Vice president of the GLONASS federal network operator Yevgeny Belyanko said the loss of three satellites would not affect the operation of the GLONASS system.

Prime Minister Medvedev ordered his deputy Dmitry Rogozin to identify the guilty persons behind the failed launch, including high-ranking Roskosmos officials.

Rogozin has to work out measures to prevent similar accidents in the future.

 

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