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BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan: Astronauts who survived the failed launch of Soyuz said Wednesday (March 13) that they were confident about their next flight to the International Space Station, despite last-minute malfunctions.
On Thursday, US astronauts Christina Koch and Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin are expected to travel to the International Space Station of the Russian Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, five months after the two men were forced to make a landing. Emergency soon after takeoff.
This was the first such accident in the post-Soviet history of Russia and a major setback for its once proud space industry. The October abortion was caused by a damaged sensor when mounting the rocket.
Captain Ovchinin insisted that the Soyuz launcher mounted on the launch pad at Baikonur was in good condition, while noting that some defective components of the vehicle had been replaced on Tuesday.
"I am aware of this situation," Ovchinin said, addressing reporters before the launch.
"Yesterday, they found minor malfunctions," he said, adding that the last tests were done.
"There are no problems," Ovchinin added.
& # 39; 100 PERCENT CONFIDENT & # 39;
Hague for his part declared that he was eagerly awaiting the flight – his second attempt to enter the space for the first time.
"I'm 100% confident in the rocket and the spaceship," said Hague, 43.
Abortion has helped to "clarify in me why we do what we do and if the risks (that we take) are worth it, and it is very clear to me that (they are)", declared The Hague.
Ovchinin, who spent six months at the ISS during a previous mission in 2016, also downplayed the drama of the emergency landing.
This failed launch was "a little disappointing" after preparations for the one-and-a-half-year flight, but also "an interesting and necessary experiment" that tested the depth of the space program's readiness, the pilot said. 47 years old. .
If family members feared he was preparing for another coup, they would not show it, he added.
"Maybe they had some of these thoughts in mind but they would never tell me anything – they know how much I love my job!"
"COOPERATE BETWEEN PARTNERS"
An inhabited launch to the ISS has already been successfully completed since the mission's failure.
Oleg Kononenko of the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos, Anne McClain of NASA and David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency flew to the outpost in orbit in December and are expected to welcome their new teammates to the early lock. Friday.
The six-hour flight from Koch, Hague and Ovchinin will also be closely monitored for another reason.
The successful test launch of SpaceX on the ISS this month has challenged an eight-year monopoly on ISS travel that Russia has enjoyed since NASA stopped its launches in the region.
The trio and their three-person backup team spoke of cooperation rather than competition, as a result of the mission seen by some as the dawn of an era of space travel.
Koch, a 40-year-old rookie, said the success of SpaceX was "a great example of what we have been doing for a very long time."
"And that means cooperating with partners and making things very difficult."
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