THE 2,000kg RUSSIAN Foton recoverable micro-gravity capsule, carrying European Space Agency (ESA), French and German experiments worth over $3 million, was destroyed after it was dropped about 100m (330ft) from a recovery helicopter on 3 March.
ESA says that its on-board Biobox container is "...irreparably wrecked" and that one of the experiments is missing. Three French and German experiments, not on board the Biobox, were also destroyed.
The capsule had landed in bad weather 135km (70nm) southeast of Orenburg, south of the Ural Mountains, after a 14-day mission. The recovery helicopter was forced to abandon it during its transfer to Orenburg, for safety reasons.
Although a re-flight is guaranteed if anything goes wrong during the mission, it is unclear whether this applies to a loss after the mission. In any event, it will take the European customers over a year to prepare a new set of equipment.
Source: Flight International