Despite Lightening Strike, Russia Launches Navigation Satellite
By Nirmal Narayanan | May 29, 2019
Photo: International Business Times
The recent launch of Russia’s Roscosmos Soyuz 2-1b rocket from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome witnessed some dramatic events after the rocket was struck by a bolt of lightning as it made its ascent. However, the lightning did not affect the rocket’s course and it successfully completed its 3.5 hours journey to reach earth’s low-orbit where it delivered the payload, a Glonass-M navigation satellite.
Soon after the lightning strike, Dmitry Rogozin, chief of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency wrote on Twitter, “Lightning is not an obstacle to you.” The space agency chief also congratulated the flight team who was in charge of this rocket launch.