Russian Rocket Headed to ISS Blows Up

Russia's debut as the sole country with the means to get to the International Space Station falls flat.

The post-space shuttle world hasn't exactly got off to a roaring start, with an unmanned Russian spacecraft that was supposed to bring three tonnes of supplies to the International Space Station burning up in the atmosphere after launching today. Russia's Progress rocket (unfortunate name choice, that) blew up over Siberia five minutes after taking off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan due to a malfunctioning motor, raising some concerns about the only space program that's currently able to take supplies – and people – to the space station. Despite the loss of food, water, fuel, and spare parts, the six astronauts on the ISS aren't going to starve anytime soon. But the explosion does cast a bit of a pall over plans for a Russian Soyuz spacecraft mission that will bring a new crew to the station next month.