ID :
74933
Wed, 08/12/2009 - 14:24
Auther :

AsiaSat-5, acceleration unit separate from carrier rocket.



MOSCOW, August 12 (Itar-Tass) - The orbital unit, consisting of the
acceleration unit Briz-M and the AsiaSat-5 communications satellite, has
successfully separated from the carrier rocket Proton-M that blasted off
from Baikonur cosmodrome on Wednesday (at 23:47, Moscow time, Tuesday).

Alexander Bobrenyov, press secretary at the Khrunichev state space
research and production center, has told Itar-Tass, "The orbital unit
continues to fly along a suborbital flight path that ensures the base line
orbit inclination of 51.5 degrees".
An official at the Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) has specified,
"Within the next nine hours, resultant of four ignitions of sustainer of
the acceleration unit, the orbital unit will proceed from the suborbital
flight path to the designated orbit where the satellite will separate". In
a geostationary orbit, the satellite will take up a parking point at 100.5
degrees, eastern longitude.
The AsiaSat-5 spacecraft, made by the Space Systems/Loral Company, is
designed to provide up-to-date communications services for the
Asia-Pacific Region. The satellite will operate in orbit for 15 years.
The liftoff weight of the satellite is 3,760 kilogrammes. It will take
the place of AsiaSat-2 satellite in the orbital position at 100.5 degrees,
eastern longitude. Until now the orbital satellite cluster of the AsiaSat
Company had three communications satellites.

.Medvedev to hold conf on problem of alcoholism Wed.

SOCHI, August 12 (Itar-Tass) - President Dmitry Medvedev is to hold a
conference here on Wednesday to discuss measures to reduce the consumption
of alcohol. As the Head of State said earlier, the situation in this
respect cannot be resolved by means of "daft bans" but decisions to
straighten it out must be taken.
Way back in July, during a TV link-up with participants in the
Seliger-2009 youth forum, the President said, "This is a very big, complex
theme; it cannot be resolved in our country through daft bans". "We
already ran into this earlier, with efforts usually ending lamentably to
both the State and people,> he recalled.
Medvedev said he believes that "However, the problem can be solved
resultant of an integrated package of measures, such as new, normal
present-day programmes, normal humane recreation, and, finally, simply
normal incomes enabling people to have a rest in a decent way, and not
just to go to the shop, buy a bottle and sit in the kitchen dully with red
eyes, watching TV".

.Memory of sunken sub Kursk crew to be honoured Wed.

ST PETERSBURG, August 12 (Itar-Tass) - The memory of the crew of the
sunken nuclear-powered submarine Kursk is to be honoured at the Seraphim
Cemetery here on Wednesday, on the day of the ninth anniversary of the
submarine's sinking. The Cemetery affords the largest site where the North
Fleet seamen, who did not return from a training cruise in the August of
2000, lie buried.
A funeral service is to be held in the St Nicholas Nautical Cathedral
of the Theophany, the main naval shrine of Russia, where the memory of all
the defenders of the Fatherland, who had died at sea, has been venerated
since the middle of the 18th century.
A chapel with a memorial plaque listing the names of all the 118 dead
submariners is located near the Cathedral. Flowers are to be laid at the
white marble slab.
At 14:00, Moscow time, the relatives of the dead, members of the
public foundation for the commemoration of the sunken Kursk submarine,
Fleet veterans, and representatives of the LenVMB naval base will gather
for a wreathlaying ceremony at the Seraphim memorial, where 32 crew
members of the submarine are buried.
At the center of the necropolis, there is a black granite monolithic
cube with a bronze petrel symbolising the powerful elements and rest
eternal. A guard of honour is to be lined up near the memorial. As
tradition has it, followign a lity for the dead, the march dedicated to
the legendary cruiser Varyag will be played near the graves there.
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