Inert Gas Kills French Technicians

Two technicians for the European Space Agency working in French Guyana were killed Friday when they inhaled an inert gas during a launch pad inspection.

Frenchmen Luc Celle and JeanClaude Dhainaut died from asphyxiation while they were checking the launch pad for an Ariane 5 rocket at the launch site in the South American territory.

Arianespace, the commercial arm of the European Space Agency, holds more than half the world’s market for satellite launching.