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Russian space program woes continue

Maas, JuttaFebruary 27, 2012

Roscosmos, Russia's space agency, has been beset with numerous setbacks in recent months. However, NASA says it's not worried, but other analysts aren't so sure.

https://p.dw.com/p/14Agj

Russia is the only country ferrying astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station and back since NASA retired its aging fleet. Russia's space agency has experienced a string of mishaps in recent months. The latest was the failure of its Phobos-Grunt probe. The satellite failed to leave earth orbit and crashed into the Pacific Ocean. Russia's space agency says foreign microchips and heavily charged space particles caused the probe to malfunction. NASA has said it's not worried. That's despite the fact that earlier this month, Russian authorities said the next Soyuz flight to the International Space Station originally scheduled for April would now be pushed back to May. And these latest findings have some analysts worrying about the reliability of Russia's space program. Jessica Golloher has the details from Moscow.