The unmanned cargo spacecraft was launched from Kazakhstan on its way to the International Space Station; It carries food, oxygen and a robot for the station's crew to use
Avi Blizovsky
Russia launched an unmanned supply spacecraft at noon (Sunday) from the Baikonur launch site in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station. The spacecraft's payload includes food, oxygen and a new robot for use by the crew.
The launch was carried out as planned, despite the crash of the space shuttle Columbia last night. However, senior officials in the Russian space agency said last night that Russia may have to replace NASA in launching the next supply spacecraft, to allow the American space agency to investigate the circumstances of the disaster.
The spokesman for the Russian space agency, Sergey Gorbanov, said yesterday that "according to the photos we saw of the shuttle crash, all the remains that will be found will be completely burned and the investigation is expected to last a long time."
The International Space Station, which has been manned since 2000, has two American astronauts and one Russian astronaut. An American expert said that the situation of the astronauts in the space station will not be affected by the Columbia crash and that there is no danger to their safety.
Following the crash of the "Columbia" shuttle, the US announced that it was suspending all of its flights into space.
NASA said that the four astronauts on the space station have supplies until June. The four, two Americans and two Russians, were supposed to return to Earth in the American space shuttle "Atlantis" in about a month.
Japan said today that the disaster is affecting its plan to launch another astronaut on an American shuttle next month. Astronaut Souichi Noguchi was supposed to be the fifth astronaut to accompany an American shuttle. Officials said his mission would be postponed. "The accident not only harms the American space program but also the International Space Station, a project in which Japan also participates," said the sources. Also, the departure into space of two Canadian astronauts, who were supposed to take off later this year, will be postponed.
