Just seconds before it was supposed to take off for the International Space Station (ISS), a Russian Soyuz spacecraft ‘s launch was aborted on Thursday, and the crews of two Russian, one Belarusian, and one American were safely evacuated.
The rocket was seen at its launch site at the Baikonur cosmodrome in the Kazakhstani steppe, with its main umbilical moving away, and mission control yelling out in Russian, “Launch!.” Just 20 seconds before the planned launch, the words “automatic cancellation of the launch” were broadcast on the live stream.
About 20 seconds prior to liftoff, the Russian space agency Roscosmos reported that there had been a dip in the chemical power source’s current. It was unclear right away what the current fluctuation specifically affected.
It is unusual to cancel a launch at such short notice, especially while the crew is preparing the rocket for takeoff on the launch pad.
The launch is scheduled for March 23 at 12:36 GMT (16:36 MUT), according to Roscosmos, and space chief Yuri Borisov downplayed the drama. “Colleagues, space is like this and the situation is quite understandable,” he said. According to NASA TV, the second umbilical support pulled out, but the engine did not start.
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