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Launch of the Russian Soyuz rocket and Soyuz MS-10 capsule with
a two person American Russian crew on Oct, 11, 2018 that failed shortly after liftoff and forced an abort and emergency landing. Credit: Roscosmos |
CAPE CANAVERAL,
FL – The two person America Russian crew
made a steep but safe emergency landing back on Earth in their Soyuz capsule early
this morning forced an emergency abort following
the failure of the normally highly reliable Soyuz FG launch vehicle soon after liftoff from
the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thursday.
“NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian
cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin are in good condition following today’s aborted
launch,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted from Kazakhstan.
Bridenstine was present at Baikonur to witness the launch.
“I’m
grateful that everyone is safe. A thorough investigation into the cause of the
incident will be conducted.”
BREAKING NEWS: STORY BEING UPDATED
The duo were on their way for a six hour trip
to orbit aboard
the Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft and six month stay at the International Space Station (ISS). It was being broadcast live on NASA TV.
The Russian Space Agency Roscosmos just released the first
pictures of Hague and Ovchinin showing them in apparently excellent health after
the arrival of Russian recovery forces who rescued and extracted then from the Soyuz
capsule.
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Soyuz MS-10 crew mates NASA
astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin safe on Earth after failed Soyuz rocket launch, emergency abort and safe landing and rescue in Kazakhstan on Oct. 11, 2018. Credit: Roscosmos |
The Soyuz capsule made a ballistic emergency landing in a remote area
in Kazakhstan near and east of the town of Dzhezkazgan, a staging
area for crews for normal landings located a few hundred miles from the Baikonur launch
site.
NASA and
Bridenstine released this statement a short while ago.
“The Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft launched from the
Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International
Space Station at 4:40 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 11 (2:40 p.m. in
Baikonur) carrying American astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexey
Ovchinin. Shortly after launch, there was an anomaly with the booster and the
launch ascent was aborted, resulting in a ballistic landing of the spacecraft.
“Search and rescue teams were deployed to the
landing site. Hague and Ovchinin are out of the capsule and are reported to be
in good condition. They will be transported to the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training
Center in Star City, Russia outside of Moscow.
“NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and the NASA
team are monitoring the situation carefully. NASA is working closely with
Roscosmos to ensure the safe return of the crew. Safety of the crew is the
utmost priority for NASA. A thorough investigation into the cause of the
incident will be conducted.”
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ISS Expedition 57
crew members Alexey Ovchinin and Nick Hague pose in front of their Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft prior to launch Oct. 11, 2018. Credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov |
four orbit trip to the ISS to start Expedition 57 and join the crew of three already aboard: Expedition 57
Commander Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency), NASA Flight Engineer
Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Roscosmos Flight Engineer Sergey Prokopyev.
The cause of the rocket failure is not known. But
it appears to occur just about two minutes after launch and just moment after
the four strap on first stage booster were jettisoned, in a live transmission.
The live video appeared to show debris flying
away at that moment – as the Russian translator called out “Failure of the booster” – presumably
based on live commentary from Russian Mission Control.
established a state commission to investigate the failure.
Here is NASA’s follow up statement:
Expedition 57 Soyuz: Crew Is Safe, NASA
Statement Released on Launch Abort:
cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin of the Russian space
agency Roscosmos launched at 4:40 a.m. Eastern time aboard the
Russian Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in
Kazakhstan. There was an issue with the booster from today’s launch. The Soyuz
capsule returned to Earth via a ballistic descent, which is a sharper angle of
landing compared to normal.”
“The Soyuz capsule landed east
of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan carrying two crew members. The search
and recovery teams reached the Soyuz spacecraft landing site and reported that
the two crew members, Nick Hague of NASA and Alexey Ovchinin of
Roscosmos, are in good condition and are out of the capsule. The crew returned via helicopter to Dzhezkazgan,
Kazakhstan. Roscosmos is forming a state commission to investigate
today’s Soyuz launch incident.”
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Launch of the Russian Soyuz rocket and Soyuz MS-10 capsule with
a two person American Russian crew on Oct, 11, 2018 that failed shortly after liftoff and forced an abort and emergency landing. Credit: NASA |
Since the forced shutdown of NASA’s space shuttles in 2011,
the US has been totally reliant on the Russian Soyuz for astronaut trips to the
ISS.
NASA is developing new commercial crew capsules to ferry
crews to the ISS with SpaceX and Boeing- but they have been repeatedly delayed
by technical and funding issues.
The impact of the launch failure on future Soyuz launches
and cargo ship launches is unknown at this time.
The next Soyuz launch had been scheduled for December 20 with
a three person crew comprising Soyuz MS-11 commander
Oleg Kononenko, Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques and NASA astronaut Anne
McClain.
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