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"According to news reports, an emergency engine shutdown 17 seconds into flight likely caused the recent Russian rocket crash.\nThe unmanned Russian Proton-M rocket launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 10:38 p.m. EST. The crash of the 17-story booster destroyed three onboard navigation satellites, which were worth almost $200 million. Video of the rocket crash from Russian state-run Rossiya-24 television shows the vehicle veering off course shortly after liftoff, then breaking apart in midair and exploding in a fiery blaze once it hit the ground.\nThe rocket was carrying 600 tons of highly toxic heptyl, amyl and kerosene fuel, which were spilled when the booster was destroyed, Russian news service Ria Novosti reported. The burning fuel gives off a poisonous smoke, but officials said the cloud was being partially contained by rain at the launch site. \nSEE ALSO: Photos: Proton Rocket Launch Failure\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSEE ALSO: 50 Great Russian Rocket Launch Photos\nPeople in the nearby town of Baikonur, 36 miles (60 kilometers) away, were told to stay home with their windows closed, and public shops and cafeterias were closed, Kazakh Interior Minister Kalmukhambet Kasymov said, according to Reuters.\nThere were no reported casualties caused by accident, and launch personnel were in bunkers during the Proton liftoff, Reuters reported.\nSEE ALSO: Russian Proton Rocket Suffers Launch Failure\nThe Proton-M rocket was insured for 6 billion rubles ($182 million) with the Russian Insurance Center, according to Ria Novosti.\nThe three satellites onboard the rocket were intended to join the Glonass navigation network, Russia's counterpart to the United States' GPS system. Glonass, however, has been plagued with problems, including the loss of three satellites in December 2010 when another Proton rocket failed during launch. And during a fraud investigation last year, the Glonass network's chief designer was dismissedamid corruption and embezzlement accusations.\nAn investigation into yesterday's accident is underway, but early reports suggest a problem in the rocket's engine or guidance system may have caused the emergency engine shutdown, Reuters reported.\nSEE ALSO: Top 10 Soviet and Russian Space Missions\nThis was the fifth major Proton rocket launch failure since December 2010, and the most recent one since December 2012, when a Proton booster launched a telecommunications satellite into the wrong orbit.\nAfter that accident, Proton rockets were grounded until March. Upon returning to flight, three Protons launched successfully, before yesterday's crash. This latest incident will likely spur a more in-depth investigation of why these rockets continue to crash before any more Protons fly.\nImage courtesy of Khrunichev/Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos)"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2013/07/02/russian-rocket-crash-details/>