Baikonur, Kazakhstan: Russian and US space crew made emergency landing after the Soyuz rocket malfunctions on lift-off to space station. Reports say they have landed and both of them are alive.
The duo from the US and Russia had blasted off for a mission on the International Space Station.
NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos' Alexei Ovchinin lifted off as scheduled at 2:40 p.m. (0840 GMT" 4:40 a.m. EDT) Thursday from the Russia-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan atop a Soyuz booster rocket.
The Soyuz capsule is returning to Earth via a ballistic descent, which is a sharper angle of landing compared to normal. Search and rescue teams are heading towards the expected touchdown location of the spacecraft and crew. Live updates: https://t.co/mzKW5uDsTi pic.twitter.com/PH5t96RAfB
— NASA (@NASA) October 11, 2018
However, the booster rocket failed to function propertly and they had to head back to Earth shortly after the launch.
It was the first space mission for Hague, who joined NASA's astronaut corps in 2013. Ovchinin spent six months on the station in 2016.
https://t.co/WgzcbrfXIr
— TfsNews.com (@TfsNewsdotcom) October 11, 2018
Booster rockets carrying a Soyuz spacecraft with a Russian and a U.S. astronaut on board headed for the International Space Station failed mid-air on Thursday, forcing the crew to make an emergency landing, Russian news agencies reported. pic.twitter.com/APQJUTuYv3
(With inputs from agencies)
