Soyuz Rocket Mission Carrying American, Russian and Belarusian Astronauts to the International Space Station Is Suspended Seconds Before Liftoff – Crew Is Safe

A collaboration between an American and a Belarusian women and a Russian man is something so rare to find these days that you may have to look up to space to find it.

Russia aborted the launch of the Soyuz rocket carrying the three astronauts (and cosmonauts) to the International Space Station.

The launch was suspended mere seconds before liftoff. The crew is safe, officials said.

The International space station is still a symbol of post-Cold War international cooperation. NASA and the international partners hope to continue operating it until 2030.

Associated Press reported:

“The Russian Soyuz rocket was to carry NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, Oleg Novitsky of Roscosmos and Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus from the Russian-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan.

The launch was aborted by an automatic safety system about 20 seconds before the scheduled liftoff at 1321 GMT. No cause was immediately given, but NASA said the crew was safe and would be extracted quickly from their Soyuz capsule.”

American Dyson was making her third trip to the orbital station, and is to spend six months this time around.

Russian Novitsky, in his fourth flight, and Belarus’ first cosmonaut Vasilevskayais will be spending 12 days in orbit.

“The three astronauts were to join the station’s crew consisting of NASA astronauts Loral O’Hara, Matthew Dominick, Mike Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, as well as Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, and Alexander Grebenkin.”

The March 21 launch of the crewed Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft was scrubbed. More information on the viability of the next available launch opportunity is forthcoming. https://t.co/plakcu9Sqh

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) March 21, 2024

The crewed launch is reportedly the first mission to have been aborted at short notice in Russia’s space program.

RT reported:

“The head of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency, Yuri Borisov, told reporters that the reason for the canceled launch was a voltage drop in chemical power source. The crew handled the emergency situation professionally, he stated.

It marks the first time in Russian manned space exploration that a rocket liftoff carrying a crewed mission has been scrubbed during the countdown, according to historian Alexander Zheleznyakov.

‘I don’t remember such an incident that there was a cancellation in such a short time before the launch’, he told RIA Novosti, adding ‘There were cases when it was canceled a day before for various reasons’.”

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