When bloggers posted what they said was a tape of the governor of this industrial region telling local employers to organize “compulsory voting” for Vladimir Putin’s ruling party, it caused a stir across Russia. But no local newspapers or television stations reported the story in Chelyabinsk, a city of 1.1 million people 1,600 km (1,000 […]
Analysis: Botched Mars mission shows Russian industry troubles
Russia’s unsuccessful launch of a Mars moon probe points up the problems of a once-pioneering space industry struggling to recover after a generation of brain drain and crimped budgets. An unmanned craft, launched last Wednesday in what was meant to be post-Soviet Russia’s interplanetary debut, got stuck in Earth’s orbit and may drop down into […]
Russia races to salvage stranded Mars probe
Russia raced on Thursday to salvage a spacecraft bound for a moon of Mars that is stranded in the Earth’s orbit, with just days left before the window closes on its first interplanetary mission in 15 years. So far Russian controllers have failed to establish contact with the $163-million, unmanned probe, leaving little hope of […]
U.S. astronaut eager for ”sports car” space ride
Veteran U.S. astronaut Daniel Burbank said on Monday he was eager to fly Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station, likening it to a sports car and NASA’s space shuttle to a big truck. Burbank has twice flown aboard NASA’s Atlantis shuttle but will launch his maiden Soyuz mission to the space station on […]