For the first time in International Space Station history, a crew has failed to reach orbit. The spacecraft’s escape tower safely pulled Soyuz MS-10 with its two-person crew away from the failed booster.
Russian cosmonaut Aleksey Ovchinin and NASA astronaut Nick Hague lifted off atop a Soyuz-FG rocket at 2:40 p.m. local time (4:40 a.m. EDT / 8:40 GMT) Oct. 11, 2018. Around the time of the separation of the four strap-on boosters was when the issue occurred. In the NASA TV live stream, the two appeared be jerked before the internal spacecraft video feed cut off.
That jerking motion was likely due to the activation of the launch escape motor, which pulled the Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft and its crew safely away from the failed Soyuz-FG booster. This placed the capsule onto a ballistic trajectory, resulting in high gravity loads on the crew during its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.
Russian search and rescue teams are currently traveling downrange to meet up with Ovchinin and Hague. It is expected to take about 90 minutes for them to reach the crew. The crew landed near Zhezqazghan, Kazakhstan, and is in communication with search and rescue teams. They are reportedly in good condition.
As a result, the duo will obviously not be going to the International Space Station on the planned six month trip. The next crew scheduled to launch to the ISS was currently scheduled for Dec. 20—Soyuz MS-11. However, until the problem with this launch is found and solved, no Soyuz spacecraft is likely to be launched.
How this will effect the current crew ISS crew—Expedition 57—and its schedule is currently unknown. The three aboard the outpost are are European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst, NASA astronaut Serena Aunon-Chancellor and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev.
Russian cosmonaut Aleksey Ovchinin and NASA astronaut Nick Hague lifted off atop a Soyuz-FG rocket at 2:40 p.m. local time (4:40 a.m. EDT / 8:40 GMT) Oct. 11, 2018. Around the time of the separation of the four strap-on boosters was when the issue occurred. In the NASA TV live stream, the two appeared be jerked before the internal spacecraft video feed cut off.
That jerking motion was likely due to the activation of the launch escape motor, which pulled the Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft and its crew safely away from the failed Soyuz-FG booster. This placed the capsule onto a ballistic trajectory, resulting in high gravity loads on the crew during its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.
Russian search and rescue teams are currently traveling downrange to meet up with Ovchinin and Hague. It is expected to take about 90 minutes for them to reach the crew. The crew landed near Zhezqazghan, Kazakhstan, and is in communication with search and rescue teams. They are reportedly in good condition.
As a result, the duo will obviously not be going to the International Space Station on the planned six month trip. The next crew scheduled to launch to the ISS was currently scheduled for Dec. 20—Soyuz MS-11. However, until the problem with this launch is found and solved, no Soyuz spacecraft is likely to be launched.
How this will effect the current crew ISS crew—Expedition 57—and its schedule is currently unknown. The three aboard the outpost are are European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst, NASA astronaut Serena Aunon-Chancellor and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev.
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