Space Crew Survive Plunge to Earth After Soyuz Launch Aborts
- American, Russian astronauts are in good condition, NASA says
- Incident is first aborted manned ascent for Soyuz since 1975
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A booster failure more than 50 miles (80 kilometers) above Earth during a Soyuz rocket launch Thursday forced the two crew members to abort their mission to the International Space Station and make the first emergency landing for the Russian-built craft since 1975.
American Nick Hague and Russian Alexey Ovchinin landed safely after an “anomaly with the booster” prompted the ascent to be aborted, NASA head Jim Bridenstine said in a statement. The mission would have been Hague’s first space flight. Search and rescue teams reported the men are in good condition after making a ballistic descent, which has “a sharper angle of landing compared to normal,” NASA said on Twitter.