Andrei Krivorukov got a wonderful Christmas gift today: his very own life. He saved it after a titanium ball from a Russian communication satellite crashed right into its house, escaping death by just a few metres.
The Russian satellite was a Meridian, which is used for civilian and military communications. It was destroyed when a Soyuz-2 rocket exploded in mid-air, just a few minutes after launch. It’s a weird accident, because the Soyuz-2 has an excellent track record, with hundreds of launches since the 1960s.
The catastrophe sent several pieces over Siberia, near the city of Tobolsk and as far as 100km from the city of Novosibirsk.
One of them was the 5kg titanium ball that fell through Krivorukov’s roof, landing right where he was minutes before. That was when he decided to go to his yard to grab som wood for his fireplace. The other present: the town where he lives said they were going to pay for the repairs. [NDTV]