The cause of the accident “Proton” could be a diversion – Moskovsky Komsomolets

According to the source “MK”, ​​falling missiles could provoke employees, disgruntled new policy of the Russian Space Agency

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May 16 was fatal for the Russian space. Last Saturday, just like a year ago, the carrier rocket “Proton-M” again lost valuable companion, this time a Mexican, and burned up in the atmosphere. Abnormal situation arose in 8.56 Moscow time, a minute before the estimated time of separating the upper stage “Breeze-M” with the Mexican spacecraft. At 498 seconds into the flight there was an emergency engine shutdown.

Photo: facebook.com/Roscosmos

It is striking that not only repeated the sad start date, but the reason that we have lost a year ago, our communications satellite “Express-AM4R” – appear again led poor-quality bearings in the steering engines of the third stage of the rocket. Prime Minister Medvedev again instructs understand what happened and draw conclusions … It looks like some sinister roundabout, when you consider that the current state of emergency with “Proton” production Khrunichev. Khrunichev is the seventh in the last five years and the second in a series of other troubles in the space industry in the last three weeks!

In the space industry lost production culture. It is many times confirmed “MK” and staff and managers. In particular, last year, just after a similar accident May 16, 2014, the then head of the Russian Space Agency, Oleg Ostapenko, explaining the reasons of emergency, referred to the absence of clear lines of control in creating a launcher, which was built before his arrival in the Federal Space Agency. This control, according to Ostapenko, must begin with the documentation general designer: “In accordance with its missile and prepare for the start. If the general designer is not registered or established clear procedures within the parameters are not sufficient to control, even if you’re seven genius, – check everything and to identify all the defects in the preparation stage can not ».

So when in our 2014 fall rocket responsible for it must be the one who led in 2013 and the fall of 2015 – the first year, according to the logic must meet those nashtampovali marriage in 2014 or in the same 2013? How did you find out “MK”, ​​the engine and the rocket itself, which descended from orbit on Saturday, were created in the same 2013 as the “Proton”, which fell in May 2014. Well, if so, the current leadership of the Russian Space Agency, headed by Igor Komarov, of course should not be responsible for the sins of its predecessors. Who was there before them – Ostapenko, the late Popovkin?

But let, according to the same banal logic, after the incident, which occurred in the past year, all engines, preparing to start in the next, had to be rechecked before use. That, apparently, did not happen … So, if we again ran into the bearing predecessor, it is a diversion, or simply stupid – no middle ground. Tens of billions, sunken in the last five years in the Pacific Ocean, it is quite an impressive amount of damage. Really for the sake of such amounts to the country can not be once and for all to build factories strict system of monitoring the quality of incoming parts and assembly of rockets ?! Willy-nilly, to believe in the conventional among the people the version of the sawing of money: that was sent into space horrible, following the collapse of insurance – all in chocolate, but as a country it will go without quality communication, navigation, and other benefits, nobody cares. I do not want to believe in a total theft, I do not want to! There is also another version: to sabotage “Proton” has been committed from the inside, just to substitute the current leadership does not allow him to carry out the planned restructuring of the industry. Dissatisfied new policy can be very much. Take, for the fact that the new head of the Khrunichev Center Andrew Kalinowski put the company on the seven heads of the intermediate levels, which can now put a spoke in the wheel of the team Komarov. But it is clear that despite all the human and other improvements, problems in the Center Khrunichev as they were, and are. At least now they do not try to hide – a new information policy of the Russian Space Agency to be extremely open.

Despite the thorough investigation of every contingency, they are repeated often obscene. Is it so hard to find a weak link? If you look at the chronology of accidents “Proton”, we see that more often from 2010 to 2012 he summed boosters, July 2 2013th are mixed angular velocity sensor. The most amazing thing that set them wrong it was very difficult – places that were intended for them to have a certain shape, a specific sensor. This method is called on tehpredpriyatih “foolproof.” However, our fool no pereshibesh – collector (say, it was a young employee), twisting this way and that, set three of the six sensors “upside down with force action.” It is written in the official report of the commission of Roscosmos.

Now, let’s look at the last event, which seems to be again, as in 2014 connected to the engine of the third stage “Proton-M”, which makes the Voronezh Mechanical plant.

In the past year, explaining the reasons of emergency, we were told that there is no fault rupture bearing Voronezh collectors, because the details supplied to a mechanical plant with conventional bearing plants.

And unless they Quality is not checked? – Asking journalists what we were told that some sample of the party did, but did not check the whole party.

And why not check out? After all, as we all know the price of this test is very high, measured in billions. By the way, after last year’s crash in the Russian Space Agency said that in six months will be to sort out the engines rockets 2013 release. The idea is that nothing like this has not had to be repeated.

One way or another, but the fact remains that we have once again fallen “Proton”, this time with the Mexican satellite MexSat-1. The cost of start-up and evaluated the Mexican side of the machine to $ 390 million.

When the case of another emergency, Roskosmos, as the rule is a favorite phrase of the launch of Space – it is a very risky business, which allows a certain percentage of accidents . I understand when people talk to new rockets, or modifications thereof, for example in relation to the “Union -21.a” (due to the poor performance of its third stage on May 8 of this year fell cargo ship “Progress”), but after “Proton” flies for a long time and, in principle, so often fall should not.