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Largest Russian Rocket Hangar Collapses
Yahoo News ^ | 05-12-02 | ROZLANA TAUKINA

Posted on 5/13/2002, 12:57:14 AM by Teacher317

Baikonur Cosmodrome Roof Collapses
Sun May 12, 3:22 PM ET
By ROZLANA TAUKINA, Associated Press Writer

ALMATY, Kazakhstan (AP) - The roof of a 260-foot-tall hangar at the Baikonur cosmodrome, Russia's main rocket launching site, collapsed Sunday, trapping eight workers in the debris, officials said.

An eight-man construction crew was on the roof of the cosmodrome's main hangar when it caved in, said Kairzhan Turezhanov, a spokesman for the Kazakh Emergency Situations Committee. Russia rents the facility from Kazakhstan for its space program.

It was unlikely any of the workers could have survived the fall, Sergei Gorbunov, a spokesman for the Russian space agency, told RTR state television.

Russia would not allow Kazakh rescuers to approach the building, which was still unsteady, Turezhanov said.

The hangar, which served as a storage facility for the remnants of a scrapped shuttle program, was cordoned off because of fears that the walls could collapse. There was no information about the condition of the eight workers, he said.

A special Russian rescue team left Moscow for Baikonur, some 1,300 miles southeast of Moscow, at 7:40 p.m., said Marina Rykhlina, a spokeswoman for the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry. The plane was to arrive three hours later, or 13 hours after the accident took place.

RTR broadcast still photos of the hangar that showed the roof and upper wall of the concrete structure crumpled in two places.

Baikonur is Russia's main commercial rocket launching site.

The hangar that collapsed was built in the late 1960s for the Soviet moon program and was then used for construction of the Buran space shuttle. It had not been used since the Buran program was abandoned in 1993 after making one successful unmanned flight in 1988. A Buran ship was in the hangar at the time of the accident, RTR said.


TOPICS: Breaking News; News/Current Events; Russia
KEYWORDS: russia
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Russia's space program is literally crumbling. Sad.
1 posted on 5/13/2002, 12:57:14 AM by Teacher317
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To: RadioAstronomer
Can you ping your ping list?
2 posted on 5/13/2002, 12:59:49 AM by Teacher317
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To: Teacher317

3 posted on 5/13/2002, 1:01:25 AM by cmsgop
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To: Teacher317
Couldn't happen to nicer people.
4 posted on 5/13/2002, 1:02:12 AM by boris
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To: Teacher317
Just another story to describe the horrific results within communist systems.

How many millions of state-induced deaths will it take to convince people that socialism is evil?

5 posted on 5/13/2002, 1:08:58 AM by thinktwice
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To: thinktwice
Baikonur went capitalist a long time ago. (Selling spaces on their ISS launches, doing TV commercials, etc...)
6 posted on 5/13/2002, 1:12:32 AM by July 4th
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To: boris
The though had crossed my mind just last week, that the delay before the American successor to the current generation of shuttles is ready. I was thinking we might have to dust off the blueprints of Endeavour, or possibly try a shortcut by acquiring and refitting the low-mileage Buran. I wondered whether it could be a Russian contribution-in-kind to the International Space Station project, on which they've fallen down in the past. Columbia is 21 years old now, Atlantis about 15, and some of those Soyuz capsules they're using have to be older than that. Soyuz is basically 60's technology, and the shuttle's technology is about 20 years old.
7 posted on 5/13/2002, 1:13:26 AM by lentulusgracchus
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To: Teacher317;MarkWar
Curiouser and curiouser.

Trains, planes, automobiles...and rockets?

8 posted on 5/13/2002, 1:16:43 AM by Dr. Eckleburg
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To: boris
I almost feel sorry for them. Their space program was world-class, and set many first while beating the U.S. Now they're reduced to renting Chinese rockets, duct-taping Mir to make it last as long as possible, and selling rocket rides to American celebrities.
9 posted on 5/13/2002, 1:16:57 AM by Teacher317
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To: Teacher317
Their space program was world-class, and set many first while beating the U.S.

Sometimes being first means that you are cutting corners and trading speed for quality.

10 posted on 5/13/2002, 1:20:19 AM by Polybius
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Comment #11 Removed by Moderator

To: Teacher317
The hangar, which served as a storage facility for the remnants of a scrapped shuttle program, was cordoned off because of fears that the walls could collapse.

And we were afraid of these people during the Cold War?

12 posted on 5/13/2002, 1:22:00 AM by CWRWinger
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To: Teacher317
The roof of a 260-foot-tall hangar at the Baikonur cosmodrome, Russia's main rocket launching site, collapsed Sunday, trapping eight workers in the debris, officials said.
How much of the International Space Station did these super geniuses build?
13 posted on 5/13/2002, 1:23:55 AM by Asclepius
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To: Teacher317
Its good to see bad things happen to evil people!
14 posted on 5/13/2002, 1:25:23 AM by claptrap
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Comment #15 Removed by Moderator

To: Teacher317
Russian cosmodrome roof collapses
16 posted on 5/13/2002, 1:27:59 AM by SMEDLEYBUTLER
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To: Asclepius
And which we payed for.
17 posted on 5/13/2002, 1:28:49 AM by tom paine 2
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Comment #18 Removed by Moderator

To: Central Scrutiniser
I wouldn't call their space program second class...they had the foresight to build a very reliable launch vehicle that would consistently launch cosmonauts to orbit, where they could then spend their money on a space station.

I agree and I would say their manned program has far fewer launch delays than ours, too.

The US, on the otherhand made a needlessly complex space shuttle that costs millions more to launch astronauts up to the underfunded space station.

Since when is one hundred billion dollars considered underfunded?

19 posted on 5/13/2002, 1:40:03 AM by Moonman62
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To: SMEDLEYBUTLER
Hmmm... I did a search using just the word "Russian" and didn't see that one. Sorry for the repeat!
20 posted on 5/13/2002, 1:43:33 AM by Teacher317
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