Booster rockets carrying a Soyuz spacecraft and crew to the International Space Station has been forced to make an emergency landing after failing in mid-air.
The booster was launched this morning (October 11) from Kazakhstan, carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin of the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
Just minutes after announcing the launch, NASA tweeted there had been an issue with the booster and stated the crew would be returning to Earth in a ‘ballistic descent mode’.
Our next #AskNASA question comes from @ukvemsord, "Do the crew members do any jobs on the Soyuz?" pic.twitter.com/k2esgQcUKo— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) October 11, 2018
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.
Search and rescue teams report they are in contact with the Soyuz crew, who report they are in good condition. The teams are en route to the landing site. Live updates: https://t.co/mzKW5uDsTi pic.twitter.com/Z6RXKMKLfg— NASA (@NASA) October 11, 2018
from UNILAD http://bit.ly/2RK8GuE
