NEWS- False move by astronaut put space station out of kilter

False move by astronaut put space station out of kilter


28 October 2003

A false move by one of three astronauts who returned to earth from the
International Space Station on Tuesday pushed the ISS out of its
normal orientation, requiring use of precious fuel to straighten it up
again, a Russian space official said.

Valery Ryumin of the Energia company, said one of the three -- a
Russian, a US national and the first Spaniard ever to go into space --
mistakenly pressed two buttons at the same time, briefly switching on
the Soyuz capsule's rocket motors before the craft had undocked from
the space station.

The resulting boost pushed the station 25 degrees away from its normal
orientation in space, and scarce rocket fuel had to be used to put it
back in the right position, he said, in a report carried by the
Ria-Novosti news agency.

The official added that mission control had decided not to inform the
astronauts of the error until they were safely back on earth, in order
to avoid worrying them.

"We decided not to upset the crew, but will be carrying out a detailed
analysis later," said Ryumin. "Someone pressed two buttons at the same
time."

He was speaking after the Soyuz craft landed safely in a desert region
of Kazakhstan, carrying astronauts Edward Lu of the United States,
Yuri Malenchenko of Russia and Pedro Duque of Spain.

A spokesman for the US space agency NASA described the touch-down as
"a dream landing."

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