Astronaut launch canceled
Associated Press – March 21, 2024 / 7:48am | Story: 478147
Photo: Canadian Press
NASA Expedition 71 cosmonaut Tracy Dyson joins Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Nowitsky and Belarusian spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, Thursday, March 21, 2024. Russia’s Sokol suit is undergoing pressure testing as it prepares for a Soyuz launch to the International Space Station. (Bill Ingalls/NASA, via AP)
Russia canceled the launch of three astronauts to the International Space Station just before Thursday’s scheduled launch, but the crew members were safe, officials said.
of Russian Soyuz rocket It was scheduled to carry NASA cosmonaut Tracy Dyson, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky and Belarusian Marina Vasilevskaya from the Russian-leased Baikonur launch complex in Kazakhstan.
The launch was aborted by automated safety systems about 20 seconds before liftoff, scheduled for 1:21 p.m. Japan time. The cause was not immediately clear, but NASA said the crew were safe and would be extricated from the Soyuz capsule soon.
Although there was no danger to the crew, the aborted launch was a major incident for Russia’s space program.
This follows a failed launch in October 2018, when a Soyuz rocket carrying NASA astronauts Nick Haig and Roscosmos’ Alexei Ovchinin to the International Space Station failed two minutes after liftoff, leading to rescue efforts. The capsule took a steep ride and landed safely.
The space station, which has served as a symbol of post-Cold War international cooperation, is now one of the last remaining areas of cooperation between Russia and the West amid tensions over Russia’s military actions in Ukraine. . NASA and its partners hope to continue operating the orbiting outpost through 2030.
