Top Russian space scientist dies of mushroom poisoning

A senior scientist with Russia’s federal space agency, Roscosmos, died Wednesday after he apparently consumed inedible mushrooms.

The death of Vitaly Melnikov, 77, came weeks after a Russian unmanned spacecraft crashed onto the surface of the moon, an embarrassing setback for a country that was the first to put a man in space.

The Russian newspaper Moskovskij Komsomolets said Mr. Melnikov led the rocket and space systems at RSC Energia, Moscow’s top spacecraft manufacturer. He was admitted to the hospital on Aug. 11, the same day a Soyuz rocket carrying the Luna 25 robotic spacecraft launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East.

The spacecraft spun out of control and crashed into the moon while it was preparing for a prelanding orbit. It was Russia’s first lunar mission in 47 years, according to media reports.

Mr. Melnikov’s family told authorities that he picked the mushrooms in a forest near his home outside Moscow. He had been doing it for several years and had never suffered an incident of poisoning, according to Moskovskij Komsomolets. The newspaper said he boiled the mushrooms and ate them alone for dinner.

According to Russian media reports, Mr. Melnikov’s health soon worsened and he was taken to the hospital in serious condition. Doctors worked on him for several days until he died Wednesday.