Hello,
I was drinking my morning cup of coffee & thinking about a farmer in Siberia that says that a rocket fell in his yard and killed 4 of his horses. (It also scared him and his family almost to death.)
I have followed this story from the beginning & think that how neat to have a rocket fall in your yard. How cool can it be to have real rocket parts to play with!
Russia would be suing me because I would try to keep the rocket! 🙂
But instead of trying to have fun with the “Rocket” this man lost the lawsuit and does not even have a rocket to play with.
Altai farmer’s claim that rocket fuel killed his horses dismissed
18/03/2008 12:40 NOVOSIBIRSK, March 18 (RIA Novosti) – Scientists in Siberia rejected on Tuesday a farmer’s claim that four of his horses were killed by toxic pollution from part of a carrier rocket that fell nearby.
In early March, Sergei Kazantsev told district authorities in southwest Siberia’s Altai Republic that in the year since a fragment of a rocket launched from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan fell near his herd of horses, four of the horses had died.
However, the deputy head of the regional Institute for Water and Ecological Problems, Alexander Puzanov, said: “The deaths of the animals cannot be associated with the falling of rocket fragments. We have to look elsewhere for the cause.”
He said that according to research carried out by the institute, which regularly measures levels of toxic heptyl rocket fuel in the region’s soil and water, neither heptyl nor its derivatives had been found in the area.
Puzanov also said that researchers from his institute had not yet encountered animal deaths that could be attributed to rocket fuel pollution.
The Altai Republic has been used as a “cemetery” for the fallen fragments of carrier rockets launched from the Baikonur space center for more than 40 years. Experts estimate that about 2.5 metric tons of “space waste” have fallen in unpopulated areas of the republic during this period.
On February 5, shortly after the launch of a Proton-M carrier rocket from the Baikonur space center, a three-and-a-half-meter (11 foot) long rocket fragment landed outside the designated area for rocket debris, a few meters from the house of an Altai shepherd.
The man, who was uninjured in the incident, said he and his children had been extremely frightened and demanded compensation of 500,000 rubles ($21,000).
A few years ago another resident of the region sought damage from Federal Space Agency Roscosmos in similar circumstances. A court awarded him a mere $400 in compensation.
Wonder what killed the Horses?
Kyle & Svet
comments always welcome.
PS:
Six rocket fragments removed from Siberian villages
18/03/2008 16:34 MOSCOW, March 18 (RIA Novosti) – A total of six rocket fragments that fell near villages in southwest Siberia after lift off from Kazakhstan on Saturday have been removed, local officials said on Tuesday.
“The wreckage has been collected and evacuated on a helicopter,” a spokesman for the local administration said.
The incident occurred after the launch of a Proton-M carrier rocket from the Baikonur space center leased by Russia from nearby Kazakhstan on March 15.
The wreckage landed in three villages of the Ust-Kansky Region some 60 kilometers (37 miles) outside the designated area for rocket debris.
The smallest fragment with a weight of 60 grams landed in the yard of a village in the Altai Republic destroying the shed roof. Other wreckage landed close to houses, but no casualties have been reported. The largest fragment measured five meters (16 foot) long.
“Although no one was hurt by the fragments, people are unhappy that space waste is falling next to their houses,” the spokesman said.
The Altai Republic has been used as a “cemetery” for fallen fragments of carrier rockets launched from the Baikonur space center for more than 40 years. Experts estimate that about 2.5 metric tons of “space waste” has fallen in unpopulated areas of the republic during this period.
On February 5, shortly after the launch of a Proton-M carrier rocket from the Baikonur space center, a three-and-a-half-meter (11 foot) long rocket fragment landed outside the designated area for rocket debris, a few meters from the house of an Altai shepherd.
The man, who was uninjured in the incident, said he and his children had been extremely frightened and demanded compensation of 500,000 rubles ($21,000).
Another Siberian farmer claimed that in the year since a fragment of a rocket fell near his herd of horses, four of the horses had died. However, scientists rejected his claims saying he should “look elsewhere for the cause.”
A few years ago another resident of the region sought damage from Federal Space Agency Roscosmos in similar circumstances. A court awarded him a mere $400 in compensation.