By John Holliman

August 13, 1998
Web posted at 12:11 PM ET

(CNN) -- Let's start this week with the fiery wake-up call that struck the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Wednesday morning.

A huge Titan IV rocket loaded with a Pentagon spy satellite blew up less than a minute after launch. The explosion was visible for more than 20 miles around the pad, and the blast set off car alarms as far away as Cocoa Beach -- about 10 miles from the pad.

The Titan IV is the largest unmanned launch vehicle in the U.S. fleet, and it can carry more than 10,000 pounds into a fixed, or geosynchronous orbit. This one also had the satellite attached to a Centaur upper stage, which either means the satellite was very heavy, or that it was going into an orbit where it could spy on individual countries or spots on the Earth's surface.

The Pentagon has formed an accident investigation board to try to find out what happened. For the reporters at the launch center, it was a scary few minutes. They were ordered to evacuate as soon as the rocket blew up, just in case debris was blown back from the ocean to their viewing stand.

The good news is that nobody was hurt, and the bad is that the $1 billion satellite and its $200 million rocket were lost.

Mir's last call?

The Russian space agency is launching another crew to the Mir space station. The Thursday launch will bring what could be the final crew of cosmonauts to the Russian station. Unlike previous missions to Mir, the space agency has had to conduct this one on credit. The Russian space agency owes Energia, the launch company, more than $120 million.

Talgut Musabayev and Nic Budarin, who were the last cosmonauts to host an American on Mir, will be coming home in about two weeks. The new cosmonauts, Gennady Padalka and Sergei Avdeyev are joined in the Soyuz rocket by Yuri Baturin, a former aide to Russian President Boris Yeltsin. I met Baturin on a trip to the Star City cosmonaut training center last year, and he's very excited about his trip into space. Sources in Moscow tell CNN that unless things change, this will be the last crew to visit Mir.

Avdeyev (left), flight commander Padalka and Baturin before the launch

Russia's financial problems have convinced top officials at NASA that the Russians won't be able to fulfill their part of the deal to supply the new International Space Station. Russia had agreed to give the station 40 flights for supply and reboost during the station's construction period, but the continuing financial problems in Russia may make it impossible for the Russians to do their part.

NASA Administrator Dan Goldin says the shuttle will have to pick up more of the slack caused by the fact the Russians are not building enough Progress supply vehicles or other spacecraft to keep the station in orbit. He's suggesting that NASA come up with a totally new vehicle, perhaps based on the shuttle, that could just reboost the station in orbit.

The view from Mars

The Mars Global Surveyor satellite sent back more pictures this week. They include a view into the huge Vallis Marinaris valley that moves across the Martian surface. Global Surveyor was able to peer deep into the valley and send back pictures of Martian dust that has fallen down the sides. When the camera comes back up, you can see the craters on the surface, which look something like lunar craters.

Managers have decided to delay extending Surveyor's high-gain antenna to its final transmit position because of worry that the huge dish might break off. They're going to keep it close to the cameras and other sensors for at least a few more months while they study a potential problem with hydraulic fluid on board.