Achi news desk-
astana2 days ago
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A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying the three astronauts from Expedition 71 stands on the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on March 21, 2024. (Image credit: NASA TV)
The launch of the Russian Soyuz rocket carrying three astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) has been delayed until Thursday, March 21. It had to be stopped just 21 seconds before launch. Now it can be launched on Saturday.
NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky and Belarusian space flight participant Marina Vasilevskaya were on board this rocket. Its liftoff was to take place at 6:51 pm (IST) from Kazakhstan.
Mission abort by automatic system
NASA spokesman Rob Navias said – The mission ended due to the automatic system. After this, the Russian agency Roscosmos sent a team of engineers to the launch pad to ensure that the vehicle was safe and that the crew could be evacuated.
Marina Vasilievskaya (top) of Belarus, Tracy Caldwell Dyson (center) of NASA and Russian astronaut Oleg Novitsky prepare to blast off to the International Space Station on a Soyuz rocket at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. (Image credit: NASA TV)
The mission ended due to a voltage drop
Director General of Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, said, ‘The cause has been identified, we found at a meeting of the State Commission that the cause is a voltage drop in the chemical current source.’
Astronauts go to ISS by Soyuz and Dragon
Astronauts are transported to the International Space Station and returned to Earth only via the Russian Soyuz spacecraft and American billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft. Soyuz has been used for 24 years for ISS.
Until 2011, astronauts also used to go to the International Space Station by NASA’s Space Shuttle, but after the accidents, NASA had to retire the Space Shuttle. After this, America became dependent on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft for 9 years.
ISS is about 400 kilometers above Earth
The International Space Station is approximately 400 kilometers above Earth. It is the largest and brightest man-made object in space that can be seen from Earth. Astronauts go there to conduct many types of experiments in a microgravity environment.
The International Space Station orbits approximately 400 kilometers from Earth at a speed of 28,000 Km per hour.
ISS rotates at a speed of 28,000 km per hour
The size of the ISS is equal to a football field. It revolves around the Earth at a speed of about 28,000 Km/hour. This is a project of the space agencies of five countries: NASA America, ESA Europe, JAXA Japan, ROSKOSMOS Russia and CSA Canada.
