Reuters AlertNet Lite - Train with space shuttle parts derails in Alabama

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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)

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