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پرواز انوشه انصاری 4 روز به تعویق افتاد
شنبه، 11
شهریور 1385 پرتاب سایوز TMA-9 كه قرار است اولین بانوی
گردشگر فضایی را با خود به ایستگاه بینالمللی فضایی واقع در مداری به ارتفاع 400
كیلومتر بالاتر از سطح زمین حمل نماید، چهار روز به تعویق افتاد.
The launch of the Russian spacecraft scheduled to
carry the first female space tourist into orbit has been postponed by four days,
according to the Russian space agency. The craft is now slated to blast off on
Sept. 18 and will travel to the international space station.
The Russian space agency on Thursday postponed by four days its launch next
month of a Soyuz capsule carrying an American who is the first female space
tourist to the international space station, a spokesperson said.
The postponement until Sept. 18 follows repeated delays in the launch of the
space shuttle Atlantis to the ISS. That launch, initially scheduled for Aug. 27,
was pushed back to an unspecified date because of Tropical Storm Ernesto and a
lightning strike at Cape Canaveral, Fla.
Damage Check
Spokesperson Igor Panarin confirmed the Soyuz postponement to The Associated
Press, but did not comment on the reason. The news agency RIA-Novosti quoted him
as saying "the decision was taken in connection with the postponement of the
launch of the shuttle Atlantis."
NASA will do a damage check Thursday to make sure Ernesto caused no harm, then
will fine-tune its launch times. It could try a liftoff Sept. 6, 7, or 8.
Riding in the Soyuz TMA-9 capsule will be Anousheh Ansari, an Iranian-born U.S.
entrepreneur who is traveling as a space tourist. Ansari's contract bars her
from revealing the trip's cost, but she noted previous space tourists have paid
some $20 million.
In the capsule with her will be Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin and
Spanish-born U.S. astronaut Miguel Lopez-Alegria. Ansari will spend 10 days
before returning to Earth with its current crew, Pavel Vinogradov and Jeff
Williams, who have been aboard since April 1.
Fourth Space Tourist
Ansari, who with her husband co-founded the Texas-based company Telecom
Technologies, is following in the path of space tourists Dennis Tito, Mark
Shuttleworth and Greg Olsen, who also traveled to the international space
station aboard Russian capsules.
The Russians were worried that a shuttle launch past Sept. 7 would force them to
change their Soyuz launch date and land in the dark of night -- something they
did not want to do because they have a new private firm handling capsule
recovery. However, in negotiations, they determined NASA's mission would not
interfere as long as the shuttle left the station by Sept. 17.
During the long shutdown of the U.S. space program after the breakup of the
shuttle Columbia in 2003, Russia's Soyuz manned spacecraft and unmanned Progress
cargo ships were the only way to send new crew members and supplies to the space
station.
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