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Cargo spacecraft accidents not to deter ISS experiments program

Over the past two months, two unmanned cargo spacecraft with supplies and scientific equipment have failed to reach the International Space Station

MOSCOW, June 29. /TASS/. The International Space Station’s (ISS) experiments program will not be deterred, despite the loss of two consecutive cargo spacecraft with equipment, flight director of the station’s Russian segment Vladimir Solovyov said on Monday.

"Neither we nor the Americans will have down time in orbit," he said on the Rossiya 1 TV channel.

"We always have a backlog of experiments we reserve for the last," the expert said.

Solovyov admitted, however, that the ISS scientific program will have to be somewhat adjusted and modified.

Over the past two months, two unmanned cargo spacecraft with supplies and scientific equipment have failed to reach the station. In late April, the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) lost the Progress M-27M resupply ship with about 2.5 tons of cargo. On Sunday, the American Dragon cargo spacecraft, designed by the private company SpaceX, was lost with some 2 tons of supplies. The Falcon 9 carrier rocket, which was to take the spacecraft to the station, exploded in about 2.5 minutes after lift-off.