Rear admiral fell victim to satellite testing

This happened several days ago, although naval press-services made it public just some time later. The secrecy is quite clear, because it took some time to see result of an experiment. The experiment is as follows: a space vehicle having no analogues in the world was launched from Russian Ryazan submarine. The launching of Demonstrator-2 was performed at 4:58 a.m. Moscow time on July 12 from the Barents Sea water area, assistant to the Navy commander-in-chief, Captain Igor Dygalo told PRAVDA.Ru correspondent.

The launching was performed with Volna, Russian carrier rocket constructed at the Makeyev design bureau on the basis of RSM-50 marine ballistic missile.

The Demonstrator-2 is equipped with a special inflatable brake assembly and designed to deliver freight from the space orbit to surface and for landing on other planets. Information obtained in the experiment will be used for creation of new space landing modules.

PRAVDA.Ru correspondent in Severodvinsk has got information that is unlikely to be published by other media. The new satellite (likewise the carrier rocket RSM-50) had initially undergone running-in at the central naval testing area in Nenoks (the Arkhangelsk region) at the Barents Sea shores. During the running-in, two analogous of the rocket, its technical copies were launched in the sky to investigate characteristics of a flight in the atmosphere. We have got information that one of the launches failed. Most officers say that the failure entailed resignation of the testing area commander, Rear-Admiral Vladimir Makeyev. The Defense Ministry did not prolong a contract for the admiral because Vladimir Makeyev was 55 two months ago. However, there are may navy admirals who are even older and still serve. Vladimir Makeyev was confirmed the Hero of Russia rank for launching of a ballistic missile from a Shark class submarine in 1996; the missile was launched on the North Pole and successfully hit the target in Kamchatka.

And nowadays, Vladimir Makeyev is turning his duties over to his former subordinate Rear-Admiral Vitaly Fedorin.

Vitaly Bratkov PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Maria Gousseva

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2002/07/19/44400.html

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