A Russian rocket scientist has died as a result of mushroom poisoning. This reports the German news website fr.de with reference to the Russian newspaper MKRU.
Already on August 11, 77-year-old Vitaly Melnikov was hospitalized with severe poisoning. For weeks doctors tried to save his life, but without success. Melnikov had suffered from kidney failure and eventually died as a result. MKRU writes: “According to his relatives, he collected mushrooms every summer and had never been poisoned by forest food before. He always went mushroom hunting alone and enjoyed being one with nature.”
Melnikov worked at RSC Energia, the largest space company in Russia. There, he headed the department for rocket and space systems and took part in many scientific experiments. Among other things, he was involved in the Russian mission with the Luna 25 space probe, which was supposed to land on the moon. It hit the lunar surface on August 20 and crashed.
Image: kremlin.ru, Совещание с постоянными членами Совета Безопасности, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (image size modified)
