Two astronauts aboard the Soyuz rocket, which was due to visit the International Space Station (ISS), landed in emergency in Kazakhstan on Thursday
US astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovitchinin landed in Kazakhstan in emergency after the failure of one of the engines of the Soyuz rocket. They were on board the rocket to take them on the International Space Station (ISS).
“Living crew”
“When the Soyuz MS-10 took off, an unusual situation arose. Rescue systems were activated, the ship landed in Kazakhstan. The crew is alive and the contact has been established with them, “the Russian space agency Roskosmos said in a statement.
“The rescue teams are heading to the landing zone of the Soyuz ship carrying the two men,” Nasa added on Twitter.
A source in the Russian space sector, quoted by Ria Novosti, added that the two men “were not injured” after the failure of one of the engines of the Soyuz rocket that was to override the ISS.
Launchers problem
The Soyuz rocket, which was to take the two men on a six-month mission to the orbital space station, failed about two minutes after taking off. “Throwing problem, two minutes and 45 seconds,” announced in a perfectly calm voice Alexey Ovchinin, captain of the rocket Soyuz, in the live broadcast of the takeoff.
“There was a problem with the engine a few seconds after the separation of the first stage of the rocket,” said NASA commentators, who broadcast the launch live.
According to an AFP photographer on the spot, the takeoff went well but “after the separation of the first stage, we had the impression that there was a kind of flash”.
“Thank God they are alive,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
