Putin names ex-Cabinet member as new space chief

MOSCOW (AP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has named an ex-Cabinet member to lead the Roscosmos state space corporation.

Putin told Dmitry Rogozin Thursday that his job would be to implement the streamlining proposals he had put in place as a deputy prime minister in charge of military and space industries.

Rogozin, who lost his job in a recent Cabinet reshuffle, had failed to stem a steady decline of the Russian space program dogged by launch failures.

Famous for his anti-Western tirades, Rogozin was recently in the spotlight when he attended a strange experiment involving a dachshund that was forced into a container filled with an oxygen-rich liquid. It was designed to showcase Russian research into liquid breathing. Rogozin said the dog was unhurt, but the video angered animal rights activists