Russian Soyuz Spacecraft Launch Aborted Moments Before Blast-Off
The launch of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft destined for the International Space Station (ISS) encountered a last-minute abort just moments before its scheduled lift-off on Thursday. The crew, consisting of a Russian, a Belarusian, and an American, was safely evacuated from the rocket.
Mission control initiated the launch sequence, signaling “Launch!” in Russian, as the Soyuz rocket stood poised at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. However, just 20 seconds before the intended launch time, the live stream broadcast announced the “automatic cancellation of the launch,” leaving the crew and spectators startled.
Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, attributed the abort to a sudden drop in the current of a chemical power source, occurring mere seconds before lift-off. The precise impact of this fluctuation was not immediately clear, prompting an unprecedented decision to abort the launch with the crew already onboard and ready for liftoff.
Such eleventh-hour cancellations are rare in space missions, especially when the rocket is fully prepared for take-off with the crew on board. Yuri Borisov, the head of Roscosmos, sought to reassure observers, characterizing the situation as a routine aspect of space exploration.
Despite the setback, Roscosmos announced a rescheduled launch for March 23 at 1236 GMT. NASA TV coverage noted the retraction of the second umbilical support but confirmed that the engine ignition did not occur as expected.
The crew, comprising NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, and Belarusian cosmonaut Marina Vasilevskaya, had been moments away from embarking on their mission to the ISS. Novitsky and Vasilevskaya were slated for a 12-day stay on the ISS, with plans to facilitate the return of American astronaut Loral O’Hara on April 2. Dyson, on the other hand, was scheduled for a six-month stint aboard the ISS, focusing on technology experiments to support future space missions, as stated by NASA.
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