NASA wanted to be calm on Friday after the Soyuz rocket launch failure and the restless return to Earth of the two astronauts aboard the spacecraft that was heading towards the ISS. At a press conference in Moscow, NASA’s administrator Jim Bridenstine praised the “wonderful relationship” between Russia and the United States regarding space cooperation, adding that “it is quite expected” that NASA will continue to use Russian Soyuz rockets to send its astronauts to the ISS.
Jim Bridenstine, who was in Baikonur for the launch of the Soyuz that had to bring Nick Hague, a NASA astronaut, and Alexei Ovchininin, Roscosmos’s astronaut, to the International Space Station, also said that “everything went well after the failure of the rocket,” as both men returning to Earth safely.
Russia’s Roscosmos Space Agency Executive Director Sergei Krikaliov certified that the ISS could operate unoccupied but warned that the Russians would do “everything possible to prevent this from happening.”
“We will try to slightly advance the departure of the next crewed mission,” normally scheduled for December 20th, he added. However, Sergei Krikaliov stated that the next scheduled takeoff of a Progress supply cargo ship, set for October 31st, could be delayed.
NASA is not worried about the recent Soyuz rocket launch failure
“The guys will have to fly again,” said Dmitri Rogozine, the director of Roskosmos, on his Twitter account, talking about a flight “for next spring.” On Friday, the two men joined the Star City, the cosmonaut training center near Moscow. Following this failure, all launches were suspended, and the Russian authorities opened a criminal investigation.
In the meantime, the three current occupants of the ISS, Alexander Gerst of Germany, Serena Aunon-Chancellor of the United States, and Sergei Prokopiev of Russia, will have to remain alone on the International Space Station longer than expected. It is not impossible that the mission of the three current occupants, which was due to end in December, could be extended, as the European Space Agency (ESA) reported.
The potential problem is that the batteries of the Soyuz rocket that is to bring the ISS astronauts back to Earth have a limit of about 200 days, thus, extending the deadline for a return to Earth up to January, tops.
The first results of the investigation on the Soyuz rocket launch failure, set up by Roskosmos, would be revealed on October 20th, the Russian space agency promised on Friday.
Vadim is a passionate writer on various topics but especially on stuff related to health, technology, and science. Therefore, for Great Lakes Ledger, Vadim will cover health and Sci&Tech news.