The last-minute abort of Russia's Soyuz launch to the space station is an unusual delay.

The last-minute abort of Russia’s Soyuz launch to the space station is an unusual delay.

March 21, 2024 Benjamin Hughes

The planned launch of a Russian Soyuz rocket, which was supposed to carry a cosmonaut commander, a guest flier from Belarus, and NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, was cancelled on Thursday at the 20-second mark before liftoff. This delay has pushed back the crew’s scheduled flight to the International Space Station.

With veteran commander Oleg Novitskiy at the controls, flanked on the left by Belarus spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya and on the right by Dyson, the countdown was ticking smoothly toward liftoff at 9:21 a.m. EDT when an unidentified controller called an abort.

Following the aborted launch of the Soyuz MS-25/71S spacecraft at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the access gantries were raised back to their original position.

NASA TV

There was no immediate explanation given, however, the launch commentator from NASA confirmed that the crew was unharmed and the vehicle was in a stable state. The ground crews promptly regained entry to assist Novitskiy, Vasilevskaya, and Dyson in disembarking the Soyuz MS-25/71S spacecraft.

Despite ongoing tensions between the United States and Russia, it seems that the crew gets along harmoniously.

Dyson expressed his pleasure in working with Marina, saying she has a great attitude. This has been especially helpful while they work together in challenging conditions, wearing emergency masks and training for emergencies. He greatly enjoys working with her.

th, 2019

The spacecraft came back to the surface of the Earth on March 12th, 2019.

Following a brief handover.

Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya have a 12-day stay scheduled on the space station. O’Hara will take over for Dyson on the return journey and the three of them will come back to the Earth on the Soyuz MS-24/70S craft, which also transported O’Hara, Kononenko and Chub into orbit last September.

Kononenko and Chub are currently on a planned, year-long mission on the station. If everything goes according to plan, they will come back to Earth in September of next year. They will be joined by Dyson, who will also use the Soyuz MS-25/71S ship that was delivered by Novitskiy’s crew. O’Hara’s return will mark the end of the latest crew rotation.

William Harwood

Since 1984, Bill Harwood has been continuously documenting news related to the U.S. space program, initially as Cape Canaveral bureau chief for United Press International and currently as a consultant for CBS News.

Source: cbsnews.com