Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

NEWSDESK

Train with space shuttle parts derails in Alabama
02 May 2007 19:34:36 GMT
Source: Reuters
MIAMI, May 2 (Reuters) - A Union Pacific train carrying parts of the space shuttle's solid rocket boosters to Florida derailed in Alabama on Wednesday, but the accident will not affect the next space shuttle launch, a NASA spokeswoman said.

The train went off the tracks when a bridge it was crossing collapsed in a swampy area near Myrtlewood, Alabama, said Katherine Trinidad, a NASA spokeswoman at the U.S. space agency's Washington headquarters.

At least two people were injured, she said.

The solid rocket boosters for the next shuttle mission, the launch of Atlantis scheduled for June, are already at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the shuttle's launch site.

That mission is already long delayed. Atlantis had been scheduled to fly in March but its fuel tank was damaged by a freak hailstorm that passed over the Kennedy Space Center in late February.

The shuttle segments the train was carrying were destined for missions in October and December.

"These motor segments are interchangeable. They are not mission specific," Trinidad said. "But it remains to be seen whether the (October and December) missions will be affected."

The train was en route from Utah, where ATK Thiokol <ATK.N>, a NASA contractor, is based, to the launch site. The two injured people, an employee with ATK and a railroad worker, were airlifted from the scene, Trinidad said. (Additional reporting by Jeff Franks in Houston)


AlertNet news is provided by

Email this article       Send comments

NGO latest

•  The UMCOR Hotline for May 01, 2007
UMCOR - USA

•  Texas Long-term Recovery Summit will focus on Rita's forgotten families
CWS

•  FIRST LADY LAUDS VAST REACH OF NEW MALARIA PREVENTION PROGRAM
WV - USA

•  U.S. LEGISLATION AIMS TO STOP USE OF CHILD SOLDIERS
WV - USA

•  WORLD VISION: GLOBAL WATER SHORTAGE A CONCERN
WV - USA

MORE >>

Latest news

•  Train with space shuttle parts derails in Alabama

•  Uribe lobbies U.S. lawmakers on aid, trade deal

•  Israel's Olmert toughs out calls to resign

•  FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, May 2

•  UN's Ban vows defense of media freedom

MORE >>

Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Wed May 2 19:36:41 2007