Russia halted a Soyuz launch to the ISS seconds earlier than takeoff as a result of a security subject, making certain the crew’s security. Regardless of tensions over Ukraine, the ISS symbolizes ongoing Russia-West cooperation.
ADVERTISEMENTRussia known as off the scheduled launch of three astronauts to the Worldwide House Station simply moments earlier than takeoff on Thursday, however officers confirmed the crew was secure. The Russian Soyuz rocket, set to launch from the Baikonur facility in Kazakhstan, which Russia leases, was meant to move NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, Oleg Novitsky from Roscosmos, and Marina Vasilevskaya from Belarus. An computerized security system halted the launch roughly 20 seconds earlier than the deliberate liftoff at 1321 GMT. Each Russia’s Roscosmos house company and NASA confirmed the crew’s security, with Roscosmos head Yuri Borisov asserting a rescheduled launch try for Saturday. Borisov informed reporters that specialists swiftly recognized a voltage drop in an influence supply as the explanation for the aborted launch. Amid rising tensions as a result of Moscow’s army actions in Ukraine, the house station stays a beacon of post-Chilly Conflict worldwide collaboration, marking one of many few areas the place Russia and the West nonetheless work collectively. NASA and its worldwide companions purpose to increase the operation of the orbiting laboratory till 2030.