Russian rocket failure poisons relations
Space officials seem to revert to Soviet ways after crash in Kazakhstan
2006 August 14 // http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14346394/
ANALYSIS, By James Oberg // NBC News space analyst
Special to MSNBC
Last month's crash of a Russian Dnepr space booster with 100 tons of toxic rocket propellant poisoned a small corner of the empty steppes in Central Asia — but may have left a wider legacy of bitterness that will impact Russian space activities for years to come.
And whatever the actual cause of the rocket’s embarrassing failure, the poisonous consequences could have been largely avoided if Moscow space officials hadn’t reverted to almost Soviet-style cover-ups and hollow reassurances about the accident.