Russia calls ageing space station “dangerous” as it plans successor
01
Sep

Russia calls ageing space station “dangerous” as it plans successor

Sept 1 (Reuters) - The International Space Station (ISS) is dangerous and unfit for purpose, Russia's space chief said on Thursday, as Moscow pushes ahead with plans to quit the project and launch its own station. Yuri Borisov, head of the Roscosmos agency, said mass equipment failures and ageing parts were endangering crew safety on the 24-year-old station. The ISS had been a rare area of cooperation between the United States and Russia even as diplomatic ties worsened. But since Russia invaded Ukraine in February and subjected to a barrage of Western sanctions, it has become more intent on leaving…
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Russia tells NASA space station pullout less imminent than indicated earlier
28
Jul

Russia tells NASA space station pullout less imminent than indicated earlier

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) - Russian space officials have informed U.S. counterparts that Moscow would like to keep flying its cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) until their own orbital outpost is built and operational, a senior NASA official told Reuters. Taken together with remarks from a senior Russian space official published on Wednesday, the latest indications are that Russia is still at least six years away from ending an orbital collaboration with the United States that dates back more than two decades. A schism in the ISS program seemed to be closer at hand on Tuesday, when Yuri Borisov, the newly appointed…
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Russia warns sanctions could cause ISS to crash,
12
Mar

Russia warns sanctions could cause ISS to crash,

Sanctions against Russia could cause the International Space Station (ISS) to crash and lead to a 500-tonne structure to “fall down into the sea or onto land”, the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos said. Dmitry Rogozin, a vocal supporter of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, called for sanctions to be lifted as they could disrupt the operation of Russian spacecraft servicing the ISS. As a result, the Russian segment of the station - which helps correct its orbit - could be affected, causing the 500-tonne structure to “fall down into the sea or onto land”, the Roscosmos chief wrote…
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International Space Station to crash down to Earth in 2031
04
Feb

International Space Station to crash down to Earth in 2031

The International Space Station (ISS) will continue working until 2030, before plunging into the Pacific Ocean in early 2031, according to Nasa. In a report this week, the US space agency said the ISS would crash into a part of the ocean known as Point Nemo. This is the point furthest from land on planet Earth, also known as the spacecraft cemetery. Many old satellites and other space debris have crashed there, including the Russian space station Mir in 2001. Nasa said that in the future space activities close to Earth would be led by the commercial sector. The ISS…
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International Space Station swerves to dodge space junk
03
Dec

International Space Station swerves to dodge space junk

MOSCOW, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The International Space Station performed a manoeuvre on Friday to temporarily swerve away from a fragment of a U.S. launch vehicle, the head of Russia's space agency said. Dmitry Rogozin, who heads Roscosmos, said the station's orbit dropped by 310 metres (339 yards) for less than three minutes to avoid a close encounter with a fragment from a U.S. launch vehicle sent into space in 1994. Rogozin added that the manoeuvre would not affect the planned launch of the Soyuz MS-20 rocket on Dec. 8 from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and its docking at…
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NASA resets spacewalk after ruling out immediate threat from orbital debris
01
Dec

NASA resets spacewalk after ruling out immediate threat from orbital debris

A spacewalk planned for Tuesday to replace a faulty antenna on the International Space Station has been postponed for 48 hours, after mission control concluded that the position of orbital debris cited for the delay posed no risk to the repair operation, NASA said. Two U.S. astronauts wereoriginally due to venture outside the space station on Tuesday morning to begin their work, despite what NASA officials acknowledged was a slightly elevated risklevel from debris scattered in low-Earth orbit by a Russian anti-satellite missile test this month. But about five hours before the outing was to have begun, the National Aeronautics…
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Russian filmmakers land after shoot aboard space station
17
Oct

Russian filmmakers land after shoot aboard space station

A Soyuz space capsule carrying a cosmonaut and two Russian filmmakers has landed after a 3 1/2-hour trip from the International Space Station. The capsule, descending under a red-and-white striped parachute after entering Earth’s atmosphere, landed upright in the steppes of Kazakhstan on schedule at 0435 GMT Sunday with Oleg Novitskiy, Yulia Peresild and Klim Shipenko aboard. Actress Peresild and film director Shipenko rocketed to the space station on Oct. 5 for a 12-day stint to film segments of a movie titled “Challenge,” in which a surgeon played by Peresild rushes to the space station to save a crew member…
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Smoke detected in Russian module on space station – Roscosmos
09
Sep

Smoke detected in Russian module on space station – Roscosmos

A smoke alarm was activated in a Russian service module on the International Space Station (ISS), the Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Thursday, and Russian news agencies reported that cosmonauts had smelled burning plastic. The RIA news agency quoted Roscosmos as saying all systems were later working properly. Plans for a space walk later on Thursday were still in force, the space agency said. Roscosmos said a smoke detector and an alarm were set off on the Zvezda service module, which provides living quarters for crew members on the ISS, when batteries were being recharged overnight. RIA, citing audio…
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International Space Station thrown out of control by misfire of Russian module -NASA
30
Jul

International Space Station thrown out of control by misfire of Russian module -NASA

The International Space Station (ISS) was thrown briefly out of control when jet thrusters of a newly arrived Russian research module inadvertently fired a few hours after it was docked to the orbiting outpost, NASA officials said. The seven crew members aboard - two Russian cosmonauts, three NASA astronauts, a Japanese astronaut and a European space agency astronaut from France - were never in any immediate danger, according to NASA and Russian state-owned news agency RIA. But the malfunction prompted NASA to postpone until at least Aug. 3 its planned launch of Boeing's new CST-100 Starliner capsule on a highly…
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Italian AstroSamantha Cristoforetti to be ISS head, 1st European woman commander
29
May

Italian AstroSamantha Cristoforetti to be ISS head, 1st European woman commander

Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti will be the first European woman to command the International Space Station (ISS), and the third woman in the world after two Americans, during Expedition 68 which will see the ISS in orbit in 2022, the European Space Agency said Friday. Cristoforetti, 44, holds the record for the longest uninterrupted spaceflight by a European astronaut (199 days, 16 hours), and until June 2017 held the record for the longest single space flight by a woman until this was broken by Peggy Whitson and later by Christina Koch, both Americans. She is also the first Italian woman…
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Astronauts arrive at International Space Station
24
Apr

Astronauts arrive at International Space Station

(Reuters) - A four-astronaut team arrived at the International Space Station on Saturday aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule Endeavour, NASA said, after becoming the first crew ever to be propelled into orbit by a rocket booster recycled from a previous spaceflight.  The Endeavour capsule, also making its second flight, was launched into space on Friday atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX is the Elon Musk's commercial rocket company. The Endeavour docked to the space station complex at 5:08 a.m. EDT (0908 GMT) while the spacecraft were flying 264 miles (425 km)…
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Photo Story: The Soyuz MS-16 space capsule lands in Kazakhstan
22
Oct

Photo Story: The Soyuz MS-16 space capsule lands in Kazakhstan

Photos made available by the Russian State Space Corporation ROSCOSMOS on its official website shows the Soyuz MS-16 space capsule at the site of landing in a remote area outside Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, 22 October 2020. ISS Expedition 63 members NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and Russian space agency Roscosmos cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner completed their mission at the International Space Station (ISS) and returned to Earth on the Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft, which safely landed in Kazakh steppe. A handout photo made available by ROSCOSMOS shows ground personnel helping NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy (C) shortly after the Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft…
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UPDATED: Russian, US astronauts launch to International Space Station
14
Oct

UPDATED: Russian, US astronauts launch to International Space Station

A trio of space travelers has launched successfully to the International Space Station, for the first time using a fast-track maneuver to reach the orbiting outpost in just three hours. NASA’s Kate Rubins and Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos lifted off as scheduled Wednesday morning from the Russia-leased Baikonur space launch facility in Kazakhstan for a six-month stint on the station. A still image taken from a handout video made available on the official website of the Russian State Space Corporation ROSCOSMOS shows the Russian Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket with the Soyuz MS-17 manned spacecraft…
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Photo Story: Comet NEOWISE seen from the International Space Station
18
Jul

Photo Story: Comet NEOWISE seen from the International Space Station

A handout picture made available by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) shows Comet NEOWISE (short for C/2020 F3 NEOWISE) viewed from the International Space Station (ISS) on 05 July 2020 (issued 18 July 2020). An astronaut shot more than 340 photos as the comet rose above the sunlit limb of Earth while the ISS passed over Uzbekistan and central Asia. Comet Neowise has a nucleus measuring roughly 5km in diameter, and its dust and ion tails stretch hundreds of thousands to millions of kilometres while pointing away from the Sun. The icy visitor was discovered on 27 March…
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From isolation to isolation, ISS return to Earth
17
Apr

From isolation to isolation, ISS return to Earth

A crew of three has returned from the International Space Station (ISS) to a very different planet they left last year. Their Soyuz landing capsule landed under a striped orange-and-white parachute about 150 kilometers (93 miles) southeast of Dzhezkazgan in central Kazakhstan. No strangers to isolation, Russian Oleg Skripochka and Jessica Meir from the US left Earth in September 2019, well before Covid-19 emerged. Another American, Andrew Morgan, has been on the ISS since July 2019. The coronavirus pandemic has changed the usual routine for returning space crews. "It's quite surreal to see it unfolding on Earth below," Ms Meir…
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Space station crew blast off for isolation in space
09
Apr

Space station crew blast off for isolation in space

A three-man crew blasted off to the International Space Station on Thursday, leaving behind a planet overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic. Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner of Russia's Roscosmos space agency and NASA's Chris Cassidy launched at 08:05 GMT from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where COVID-19 has caused changes to pre-launch protocol. The crew told ground control that they were "feeling fine" just before they successfully entered orbit, NASA TV reported. They are expected to dock with the ISS at 14:15 GMT. Under usual circumstances, the departing crew would have faced questions from a large press pack before being…
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SpaceX plans eight-day tourist space trip
06
Mar

SpaceX plans eight-day tourist space trip

SpaceX on Thursday announced plans to send three tourists to the International Space Station aboard its Crew Dragon spacecraft. The mission will be the first private trip to space in more than a decade. The rocket company, founded by billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, signed a deal with startup Axiom Space to send a professionally trained commander along with private astronauts to spend eight days at the ISS. The mission is set to launch by the end of 2021. https://twitter.com/Axiom_Space/status/1235641228064165891 The companies, in a joint statement called this the "first-ever fully private human spaceflight mission" to the ISS. "This will…
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Italian health authorities issue alert about e-cigarettes
24
Oct

Italian health authorities issue alert about e-cigarettes

The Italian Higher Health Institute (ISS) has issued a grade 2 alert about e-cigarettes to the health ministry and regional health councillors across Italy,. A grade two alert is the second highest on a scale of three. The goal of the alert  is "to be vigilant about serious lung disease among people who use electronic cigarettes". Officials should be particularly concerned about certain liquids used in the vaping equipment, the ISS said. "They should monitor the onset of serious pulmonary lesions like those detected in the USA", the institute said. The alert, confirmed to ANSA by health sources, was issued…
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Photo Story: NASA issues photo of first all-female spacewalk
21
Oct

Photo Story: NASA issues photo of first all-female spacewalk

A handout photo made available by NASA shows Expedition 61 Flight Engineers, NASA spacewalkers Christina Koch (foreground, suit with red stripe) and Jessica Meir (suit with no stripes). The mission was to replace a failed battery charge-discharge unit with a new one during a 7-hour, 17-minute spacewalk, outside the International Space Station (ISS), 18 October 2019 (issued 21 October 2019). Christina Koch and Jessica Meir of NASA concluded their spacewalk, the first with only women. Via EPA-EFE/NASA TV HANDOUT
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Autumn in Malta from above and beyond
19
Oct

Autumn in Malta from above and beyond

Astronaut Luca Parmitano experience at the ISS is well visually documented through regular posts on social media. Today's image represents his home island Sicily in what he calls an autumn reminder. The image also captures the Maltese islands' airspace covered by clouds, in a typical autumn weather day. (bottom right) Luca Parmitano is a European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut. In July 2019 he embarked on his second mission to the International Space Station. During this mission, known as Beyond, Luca is carrying out numerous scientific experiments in the European Columbus laboratory for the benefit of space and Earth. He is…
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NASA’s First All-Female Spacewalk Set For Friday
17
Oct

NASA’s First All-Female Spacewalk Set For Friday

U.S. astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir will make history on Friday when they conduct the first ever all-female spacewalk to replace the power source on the International Space Station (ISS). The pair will exit the ISS at 11:50 GMT to fix the station’s faulty battery charge/discharge unit (BCDU) over a period of more than five hours. An all-woman spacewalk was cancelled in March due to one woman’s ill-fitting suit, leading to her replacement by a male colleague. https://twitter.com/Space_Station/status/1184254875338772485?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Koch and Meir are replacing the BCDUs after they failed to provide increased power to the ISS, though this has not…
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First all-female spacewalk scheduled for 21 October 2019
06
Oct

First all-female spacewalk scheduled for 21 October 2019

 A handout photo released by NASA on 04 October 2019 shows astronauts Jessica Meir (L) and Christina Koch (R) posing on the International Space Station (ISS) in space (issued 06 October 2019). US space agency NASA on 04 October 2019 announced that Jessica Meir and Christina Koch will pair up for another attempt to the first all-female spacewalk scheduled for 21 October 2019. The first spacewalk attempt, which was scheduled for March 2019 with Christina Koch and Anne McClain, had to be cancelled for lack of correctly sized spacesuit availability. Photo: EPA-EFE/NASA HANDOUT
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The ISS expedition 61/62 gets ready to launch
25
Sep

The ISS expedition 61/62 gets ready to launch

A member of the International Space Station (ISS) expedition 61/62, UAE astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri leaves a hotel during the send-off ceremony before the launch of the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, 25 September 2019. The launch of the mission of members of the International Space Station (ISS) expedition 61/62 is scheduled on 25 September from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Mansouri will be the first Emirati in space.   Photos: EPA-EFE/MAXIM SHIPENKOV  
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Hurricane Dorian as seen from the International Space Station
04
Sep

Hurricane Dorian as seen from the International Space Station

Handout photos made available by NASA shows an image of Hurricane Dorian snapped by NASA astronaut Christian Koch from the International Space Station (ISS) during a flyover, 02 September 2019. The station orbits more than 200 miles above the Earth. Hurricane Dorian, which made landfall on the Bahamas as category 5 and now reclassified as category 4, is expected to continue its projected path towards the Florida coast in the upcoming days.   Photos: EPA-EFE/NASA HANDOUT
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Photo Story – Staring in the Eye of the Storm
31
Aug

Photo Story – Staring in the Eye of the Storm

Staring into the eye of the storm, is the title that astronaut Luca Parmitano  gave to a photo he took of Hurricane Dorian from the International Space Station.  Luca Parmitano is an Italian engineer and astronaut in the European Astronaut Corps for the European Space Agency. The astronauts work on missions at the International Space Station. He was selected as an ESA astronaut in May 2009. CNN reports that the storm is currently heading northwest in the Atlantic to the Bahamas, where it is expected to make landfall sometime on Sunday. The storm has strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane; while it's forecast not to…
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Soyuz successfully docks with the ISS
27
Aug

Soyuz successfully docks with the ISS

The unmanned Soyuz MS-14, carrying supplies and Fedor, a humanoid robot, has successfully docked at the International Space Station (ISS) after the first attempt went awry due to a technical glitch. The docking went off without a hitch early Tuesday morning Moscow time (03:08 UTC) as space enthusiasts around the world watched with bated breath Fedor’s second shot at docking at the ISS. The mission was initially scheduled for Saturday but was aborted after a rendezvous system, known as Kurs, malfunctioned. Typically, the crew can take control and dock manually, but Fedor was unable to steer the spaceship on his…
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NASA investigating first report of a crime in space
25
Aug

NASA investigating first report of a crime in space

NASA is investigating a claim that an astronaut accessed the bank account of her estranged spouse from the International Space Station, in what may be the first allegation of a crime committed in space. According to The New York Times, US officer Anne McClain has been accused of illegally accessing her estranged partner's bank account while aboard the International Space Station (ISS). McClain spent six months aboard the ISS and had been due to feature in the first all-female spacewalk, but her role was cancelled at the last minute over what NASA said was a problem with availability of correct…
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Russian built android fails to connect with International Space Station
24
Aug

Russian built android fails to connect with International Space Station

Fedor, a Russian-built space-faring android, is running late for his rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS) after the docking procedure failed to execute on Saturday morning. The robot left Earth on Thursday aboard a Soyuz capsule, which was programmed to close into the orbital station and dock automatically. On Saturday, Russia's space agency Roskosmos showed a live feed of what was expected to be the final stage of the journey. Russian humanoid robot was set to learn new skills in space. The docking process, originally planned for 0530 GMT, failed due to issues related to the automatic docking system,…
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Photo Story: Malta and Sicily from space
08
Aug

Photo Story: Malta and Sicily from space

A photo taken from from the International Space Station (ISS) of Malta and Sicily by Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano and that he posted on his Facebook page. The Sicilian astronaut and Italian Air Force colonel Parmitano was selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) for the Expedition 60 and 61 to the ISS. The second part of the mission kicked off on July 20, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, and saw Parmitano taking the role of space station commander. Since the ISS's launch almost 20 years ago, Parmitano is the first Italian and the…
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Photo Story: ISS passes in front of the Sun
27
Jun

Photo Story: ISS passes in front of the Sun

The International Space Station (ISS) flies in front of the Sun as seen from the vicinity of Gyongyos, Hungary, on the 26th June 2019. The flight of ISS in front of the Sun took 0.6 seconds. In the photo below, a series of images combined with a computer program shows the ISS flying in front of the Sun as seen from the vicinity of Gyongyos, Hungary   . EPA-EFE/Peter Komka
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For $35,000 one can be a tourist on the ISS
08
Jun

For $35,000 one can be a tourist on the ISS

NASA is to allow tourists to visit the International Space Station from 2020, priced at $35,000 per night. NASA said it would open the orbiting station to tourism and other business ventures. https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1137000745922957313 There will be up to two short private astronaut missions per year, said Robyn Gatens, the deputy director of the ISS. NASA said that private astronauts would be permitted to travel to the ISS for up to 30 days, travelling on US spacecraft. NASA said that private commercial entities would be responsible for determining crew composition and ensuring that the private astronauts meet the medical and training…
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12
Oct

Russia to suspend manned space launches

Russia has suspended manned space launches after the failure of one of its rockets carrying two astronauts to the International Space Station, casting doubts over the future of the orbiting laboratory. FT
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11
Oct

Astronauts make an emergency landing after rocket malfunction on lift-off to the International Space Station (UPDATED)

An American astronaut and Russian cosmonaut aborted their flight to the International Space Station on Thursday after a booster failure on their Soyuz rocket. The status of the astronaut and cosmonaut is unclear after the spacecraft when into "ballistic descent landing" following booster failure. "It returned to the earth in a sharper angle than it would have been expected to land (under emergency maneuvers)," said NASA mission control in Houston. Their spacecraft was expected to dock at the ISS within six hours after blastoff from Russia-leased Baikonur cosmodrome. Search and rescue teams have been deployed and are expected to arrive at…
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Astronauts not in danger after leak in from tiny hole in International Space Stations
30
Aug

Astronauts not in danger after leak in from tiny hole in International Space Stations

Astronauts scrambled Thursday to patch a tiny hole that was allowing air to leak from the Russian side of the International Space Station. NASA and Russian space officials stressed the six astronauts were in no danger. The leak was detected Wednesday night — possibly from a micrometeorite strike — resulting in a small loss of cabin pressure. It was traced to a hole about 2 millimeters (less than one-tenth of an inch) across in the most recent Soyuz capsule docked at the space station. AP reports that Thursday morning, the crew taped over the hole, slowing the leak. Flight controllers monitored…
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Hope for new light on Korea – from Space
12
Jun

Hope for new light on Korea – from Space

A lot of expectations surround the current summit. Most of these expectations are driven by the wish for peace, which in current age is a rare thing. One of the people who expressed his wish was Former Astronaut Scott Kelly, who through a tweet, posted a photo he took of the Korean peninsula, which he took while on the International Space Station. He accompanied his tweet expressing 'hope for new light on Korea'. https://twitter.com/StationCDRKelly/status/1006370658350174208
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