Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft. The International Space Station (ISS) crew consisting of NASA cosmonaut Tracy Dyson, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, and spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus are on board and arrive at Baikonur just before the aborted launch. Standing on the launch pad. Kazakhstan, Cosmodrome, March 21st.Pavel Mikheyev/Reuters
Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft launch was aborted on Thursday seconds before it was scheduled to lift off to the International Space Station (ISS), and its Russian, Belarusian and American crew members were safely evacuated.
“Launch!” a controller said in Russian as the rocket was shown at the launch site of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Kazakh steppes, its main umbilical cord moving away.
Then, just 20 seconds before the scheduled launch time, the words “launch automatic cancellation” were heard on the live stream.
Russian space agency Roscosmos announced that there was a stagnation in the flow of the chemical power source about 20 seconds before liftoff. It wasn’t immediately clear what exactly the current fluctuations affected.
It is unusual for a launch to be canceled with such late notice. The rocket is on the launch pad and the crew is preparing for takeoff.
Roscosmos announced that the launch would take place on March 23 at 12:36 GMT, but Space Secretary Yuri Borisov downplayed the drama.
“Colleagues, the universe is like this and the situation is quite understandable,” he said.
NASA TV said the second umbilical support was retracted, but the engine did not start.
“Unfortunately, everyone, the order to cancel the launch has been issued,” said Russian space agency Roscosmos officials who broadcast the live broadcast.
The launch took place at 1:21 p.m. Japan time, and was scheduled to dock with the ISS a few hours later.
The crew, including NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Nowitzki and Belarusian Marina Vasilevskaya, were seen on board the rocket shortly before the abort.
NASA said Nowitzki and Vasilevskaya were scheduled to stay on the ISS for just 12 days and return home to American Loral O’Hara on April 2.
According to NASA, Dyson was scheduled to spend six months on the ISS, experimenting with technology that will help humans prepare for future space missions.
