(bob haller) wrote in
:

Prelaunch processing of Russian cargo vehicle Progress M-51 to fly to
the ISS is in progress.

I hope it detonates into a nice fireball on the pad, before clearing
the tower.

Taking out pad, vehicle all at once requiring station unmanning, is
first necessary step to moving forward in space....

STATION BURNS UP, NO SERIOUS INJURIES

September 28, 2005

Pittsburgh (AP) - The International Space Station, abandoned since January,
burned up in the Earth's atmosphere this morning, raining debris over a
wide swath of Ohio and western Pennsylvania.

The station's crew, Leroy Chiao and Salizhan Sharipov, were ordered to
evacuate the station due to low food supplies. The Progress supply ship
carrying new food supplies failed to reach the station.

Before departing, the crew configured the station to be completely
controlled from its two Mission Control Centers in Houston and Star City,
Russia. However, a computer failure in March resulted in the station losing
the capability to point itself. Station Program Manager Bill Gerstenmaier
was quoted as saying at the time that the computer could easily have been
recovered had there been a crew onboard.

With the loss of pointing control, the station could no longer recharge its
batteries from its large solar arrays. Its electrical power systems failed,
and its orbit slowly decayed. Another Progress supply ship was launched in
April to attempt to dock with the slowly tumbling station, but failed. In
July, the station's orbit decayed below 280 km, below which re-entry could
not be prevented.

With the loss of electrical power, mission controllers could not orient the
station to attempt to control its re-entry location, as was done with
Skylab in 1979. Fortunately, re-entry occurred before dawn, when most
people were sheltered indoors.

Although most of the station's structure disintegrated during re-entry,
many large pieces survived to impact the ground. There have been widespread
reports of property damage throughout the greater Pittsburgh area, but so
far there are no reports of deaths or serious injuries. One large piece of
debris slammed through the roof of a residence and struck its occupant,
Robert Haller, but fortunately the impact was to the skull, so no vital
organs were hit. Mr. Haller was taken to Allegheny General Hospital for
observation, where he is reportedly conscious but babbling incoherently.
According to friends and co-workers, this is Mr. Haller's normal state.
Mrs. Haller could not be reached for comment.