A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying three astronauts to the International Space Station blasted off Saturday, two days after its launch was aborted at the last minute.
The spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, Russian Oleg Novitsky, and Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus launched smoothly from the Russian-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan.
The launch had been planned for Thursday but was halted by an automatic safety system about 20 seconds before the scheduled liftoff. The head of the Russian space agency, Yuri Borisov, said the launch abort was triggered by a voltage drop in a power source. The space capsule atop the rocket separated and went into orbit eight minutes after the launch and began a two-day, 34-orbit trip to the space station. If the launch had gone as scheduled on Thursday, the journey would have been much shorter, requiring only two orbits. Docking is now expected at 1510 GMT Monday.
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 Russians Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, and Alexander Grebenkin.The space station, which has served as a symbol of post-Cold War international cooperation, is now one of the last remaining areas of collaboration between Russia and the West amid tensions over Moscow's military action in Ukraine.
Russia has continued to rely on modified versions of Soviet-designed rockets for commercial satellites, as well as crews and cargo to the space station.
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Watch Russian Soyuz rocket launch 3 spaceflyers to the ISS on March 21Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, 'Out There,' was published on Nov. 13, 2018.
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Russian Soyuz rocket suffers rare last-minute abort during launch of 3 astronauts to ISS (video)Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.
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A Russian Soyuz rocket with 3 astronauts blasts off to the International Space StationA Russian Soyuz rocket carrying three astronauts to the International Space Station has blasted off two days after its launch was aborted at the last minute.
Read more »
A Russian Soyuz rocket with 3 astronauts blasts off to the International Space StationA Russian Soyuz rocket carrying three astronauts to the International Space Station has blasted off two days after its launch was aborted at the last minute.
Read more »
A Russian Soyuz rocket with 3 astronauts blasts off to the International Space StationA Russian Soyuz rocket carrying three astronauts to the International Space Station has blasted off two days after its launch was aborted at the last minute
Read more »
Russian Soyuz rocket with 3 astronauts blasts off to the International Space StationA Russian Soyuz rocket carrying three astronauts to the International Space Station has blasted off two days after its launch was aborted at the last minute
Read more »