Failed docking of Progress with ISS did not upset crew's routine.

MOSCOW, July 3 (Itar-Tass) -- The failed attempt to dock the cargo
spacecraft Progress with the International Space Station (ISS) has had no
effect on the crew's routine.
As Itar-Tass was told at Mission Control outside Moscow, "the mode of
work and leisure on board the ISS has not changed."
On Saturday the station's crew Alexander Skvortsov, Mikhail
Korniyenko, and Fyodor Yurchikhin (of Russia) and Tracy Caldwell Dyson,
Shannon Walker and Douglas Wheelock (of the United States) have a day off.
They will be busy with mandatory maintenance, exercise, and scheduled
cleaning work. The astronauts' spare time will be devoted to hobbies -
reading books, listening to music, watching films or staging research
experiments.
In contrast to the ISS crew, specialists on the ground will be working
very hard to try to find out what went wrong with the automatic approach
control and docking system Kurs (Course), which prevented the cargo
spacecraft Progress M-06M from docking to the ISS and caused it to fly
past.
As the deputy director of the federal space agency Roscosmos, Vitaly
Davydov, explained, there were no attempts at docking in the manual mode,
contrary to some media reports. According to the official, "the docking
procedure continued as expected in the automatic mode, but only to a
certain point."
At a distance of about two kilometers from the ISS there arrived a
command banning any 'dynamic operations' and the docking had to be
canceled. Both the spacecraft and the ISS are in working condition,
Davydov said.
Another attempt at docking is scheduled for Sunday, July 4.

.IV-V centuries valuables found in Kursk Rgn estimated at millions.

KURSK, July 3 (Itar-Tass) -- Black diggers in Russia's Kursk Region,
some 500 kilometers south of Moscow, have unearthed IV-V centuries'
valuables millions of rubles worth. The items were confiscated during an
attempt to smuggle them out of the country.
As Itar-Tass was told this week by the regional police spokeswoman
Lilia Kameneva, a group of black diggers found an ancient burial mound in
near the city. As a result of unauthorized excavation the treasure hunters
laid hands on numerous antiquities. The gold and silver jewelry with
precious stones, garments of a warrior and horse harnesses are not just
very precious items in material terms. They have tremendous historical and
cultural value. According to experts' preliminary conclusions, the diggers
found the grave of a tribal chief the Huns, dating back to the end of 4th
century or early 5th century.
Kameneva said that all of the unearthed antiquities have been
confiscated. Now they are to undergo dozens of various examinations by
archaeologists, art specialists and historians. The metals and stones will
be tested, too. Already now one can say that their nominal value is
several million rubles.
According to Kursk archeologists, this is a third case in the whole of
Russia such antiquities have been found. Cultural and historical values as
significant, dating to the end of the 4th or the beginning of the 5th
century can be seen on display only at museums in Moscow and St.
Petersburg.

.President Medvedev arrives in Blagoveshchensk on border with China.

BLAGOVESHCHENSK, July 3 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev, currently touring Russia's Far East, has arrived in
Blagoveshchensk, the capital of the Amur Region, bordering on China. He
will meet with the heads of municipalities and hold a meeting on customs
and immigration issues.
It is expected that Medvedev will visit a number of local enterprises,
including an experimental plant elaborating ore extraction and enrichment
technologies. The head of state will inspect production facilities and
participate in a videoconference to see in real time mode the launch of
the third unit of a hydrometallurgical plant and the second unit of the
Olekma ore mining and dressing combine at the Kuranakh deposit in the Amur
Region.
Blagoveshchensk, founded in 1856 as a Russian military fort, is the
sole capital of a Russian constituent territory located on the state
border. The city, which is sometimes called "the Eastern gateway from
Russia to China", has a rectangular layout, very rare in Russia. In 2009,
Blagoveshchensk took second place in the national contest The Most
Comfortable City of Russia.
Currently Blagoveshchensk has a permanent population of about 220,000.
It is also called a "youth city", for the average age of its residents is
34 years.
After Saturday's visit to Blagoveshchensk Medvedev in the evening will
proceed to Vladivostok to see progress in the operational-strategic
exercise Vostok-2010.

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