Lost Mars mission thrusts Russian space science further into crisis

摘要

Despite predictions of an imminent collapse, most observers agree that Russia's space science establishment is likely to survive last week's loss of the Mars 96 spacecraft. But survival Will probably be at a reduced level. And Russian space scientistswill almost certainly never regain the leading role they once played in planetary exploration. In fact, the loss of the spacecraft, when combined with the apparent failure of the Proton launch system and worsening problems with Russian participation inthe international space station, appears to have brought the nation's space programme to a point of crisis.