Equipment Module Failed To Jettison

They know what happened... but appear to be less-than-certain about "why." That's the mixed message officials with the Russian space agency had Wednesday, in announcing the cause of last month's perilous re-entry of a Soyuz TMA-11 capsule.

The Associated Press reports an equipment module failed to detach from the capsule carrying US astronaut Peggy Whitson, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and South Korean 'tourinaut' Yi So-yeon.

As ANN reported, that failure resulted in a steeper-than-planned "ballistic" re-entry attitude, and the capsule's hard landing hundreds of miles off course. All three spacefarers survived the harsh conditions, though Yi was hospitalized days after the accident for neck and back pain.

Roskosmos chief Alexei Krasnov said the equipment module was supposed to jettison from the Soyuz after it detached from its berth at the International Space Station.

It was the second time in as many re-entries a problem developed with a Soyuz capsule's return to Earth, and the third since 2003. In all three cases, those inside the capsule survived.

A final report on the latest failure is expected next month.

The Soyuz has been the workhorse of Russia's space program since the late-1960s, and today is but one of two means (the space shuttle is the second) of carrying crew and cargo to the ISS. One Soyuz "lifeboat" remains docked to the station at all times.

NASA officials say they're eager to see the Russian report on the latest incident. An American astronaut is next scheduled to fly onboard a Soyuz in October.

FMI: www.roscosmos.ru/index.asp?Lang=ENG