Russian cosmonaut Sergei Prokopyev, who is currently aboard the International Space Station, has posted photos of the Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft on Instagram. The ship aborted its mission and was abandoned by its crew shortly after liftoff due to technical difficulties with the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle. The ISS crew member revealed that these snaps were taken from the ISS observatory module Cupola right after the spacecraft, carried by the Soyuz-FG, left Earth’s atmosphere.
In his post, Prokopyev pointed out that the initial drop from the rocket carrier had taken place, but then visual contact with the spaceship was lost.
“We are very disappointed, of course, but what’s most important, Alexey and Nick are OK, they are safe and sound,” the message by the Russian spaceman reads.
On October 11, an accident occurred during the liftoff of a Soyuz-FG launch vehicle carrying the Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft with two new members of the International Space Station (ISS) crew on board — Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin and NASA astronaut Nick Hague.
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The crew safely returned to Earth in a jettisoned escape capsule, which made an emergency landing in Kazakhstan. Roscosmos has launched an inquiry into the accident.