Rocket carrying space station crew fails in mid air, crew safe
BAIKONUR COSMODROME, Kazakhstan, Oct 11 (Reuters) - A booster rocket carrying a Soyuz spacecraft with a Russian and U.S. astronaut on board headed for the International Space Station failed mid-air on Thursday, forcing the crew to make an emergency landing.
The rocket was carrying U.S. astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin. Footage from inside the Soyuz showed the two men being shaken around at the moment the failure occurred, with their arms and legs flailing.
The rocket was launched from the Soviet-era cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. A Reuters reporter who observed the launch from around 1 km away said it had gone smoothly in its initial stages and that the failure of the booster rockets must have occurred at higher altitude.
Just as #Soyuz voiceover says “everything looking good” the picture distorts and astronauts clearly shaken by something.... pic.twitter.com/bsw9LFPEV1
— Rupert Evelyn (@rupertevelyn) October 11, 2018
The Soyuz capsule has landed back on Earth carrying two crew members. Search and rescue teams are in contact with the crew and are en route to the landing location. Live updates: https://t.co/mzKW5uDsTipic.twitter.com/G3IuAztH6O
— NASA (@NASA) October 11, 2018
Russian news agencies reported that the crew had safely made an emergency landing and were in radio contact and that rescuers were en route to pick them up.
"Search and rescue teams are in the air and heading towards the expected touchdown location for the Soyuz spacecraft returning to Earth carrying two crew members," NASA said in a statement. (
