U.S., Russian astronauts make emergency landing after booster rocket fails

The booster rocket failure that forced an emergency landing for two astronauts headed to the International Space Station was the first launch accident for Russia’s manned-space program in 35 years.

NASA said that rescue teams have reached Nick Hague and Roscosmos’ Alexei Ovchinin and they have been taken out of the capsule and were in good condition.

Astronaut Alexander Gerst, who is one of three crew members now aboard the International Space Station, captured the dramatic failed launch of the Russian Soyuz rocket in a stunning series of photographs. Instead, the two astronauts landed safely a half-hour later, rescued by the capsule’s “automated abort systems” that “is created to be effective”, said Kenny Todd, the International Space Station manager. A cloud of sand billowed up as the capsule came down on the desert steppe.

He added: “Russian forces were on the ground when the capsule touched down”.

In Thursday’s emergency, Hague and Ovchinin experienced G-forces six to seven times Earth’s gravity, Reid Wiseman, NASA’s deputy chief astronaut, told reporters Thursday at a press briefing.

Footage from inside the Soyuz showed the two men being shaken around at the moment the failure occurred, with their arms and legs flailing. Ovchinin, the Russian cosmonaut, can be heard saying, “That was a quick flight”.

Before launch, Glover made a presentation about the mission, boasting about the reliability of the Russian-made Soyuz rocket the two were to launch in. But something went wrong minutes after liftoff, sending the Soyuz capsule into a ballistic re-entry, NASA officials said. But the incident highlights recent tensions that have surfaced in a long-running collaboration in space between the USA and Russian Federation. And from what we know so far … the crew’s efforts, were heroic.

“There was an issue with the booster from today’s launch”.

A USA astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut are alive after a failure during a mission to the International Space Station. The space agency recently announced the nine astronauts that will crew the test flights and first missions of the SpaceX Crew Dragon and Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft. NASA also said in a statement that “NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and the NASA team are monitoring the situation carefully”, and that a “thorough investigation” will be conducted. A “launch escape system” – a rocket mounted above the capsule – pulled the capsule away from the rocket seconds before an explosion. “The crew has been saved”. “Teams are working with our Russian partners to obtain more information about the issue with the booster from today’s launch”, the USA agency said. Larson said this event can have an impact on efforts here in Colorado to send Americans back into space on American rockets.

The aborted mission dealt another blow to the troubled Russian space program that now serves as the only way to deliver astronauts to the orbiting outpost.

In August, however, the detection of a minute pressure leak on the International Space Station became the subject of intense media speculation in Russian Federation. Rogozin has said it could have been sabotage.

Roscosmos’s online stream of the launch cut out shortly after lift-off.

Forty-eight seconds before Soyuz 10-1 launched, a fire broke out on the launch pad.