Soyuz-U
booster with Progress M-12M launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome (RIA Novosti / Oleg
Urusov)
The crash
of an unmanned Progress cargo spacecraft in eastern Russia has become the third
space launch accident in the world within a week and raises questions about the
future of space travel.
Dr. Robert
Williams, an astronomer and professor at the Space Telescope Science Institute
based in Baltimore, believes that space is a risky business and says anyone who
has been involved with the space industry may confirm this.
“First of
all, space is a hostile environment,” he said. “Secondly, it requires lots of
energy to put something into orbit. Those two factors are a recipe for danger.
No matter how careful we are there will be accidents.”
“[The
accident] simply highlights the fact that, like getting into your car and
driving to work, there is risk involved,” he added. “And it is hard to quantify
it.”
But despite
the risks involved and the hostile environment, Dr. Williams believes that
humankind is hardwired to space travel.
“It is part
of evolution, which is genetically driven,” he said. “We try to accommodate to
environments that are somewhat different than the one we are currently
comfortable in. Obviously we have not evolved to the point where we can
accommodate to space, but I believe that we are genetically wired to explore.”
However,
Williams speculates that the accident may have a positive effect and speed up
competition from other rocket developers.
“I am sure
that there are people out there who would like to be responsible for pursuing
alternatives and this will give them some impulse to do so,” he said.
Tariq
Malik, managing editor at space.com, believes that with so many space launches
the general perception is that they have become routine.
“In the
last week not just the Russian rocket, the Chinese rocket failed last week as
well,” he said. “That is three rocket failures in seven days. It’s a top
business and it’s unforgiving as we find out today.”
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