Rocket is about to stage and drop it's 4 external boosters, you can see the plume start to fish-tail and the crew getting tossed around before they abort with a flash, then Russians cut to animated video of how the launch should have gone.

The crew of 2 landed safely and walked away from the spacecraft.

Boeing and SpaceX need to get their crew vehicles ready so we don't depend on Russia / Soyuz rides to space!

Hope they were wearing industrial strength Depends.

Soyuz (can describe the capsule AND/OR the launch vehicle) is a reliable workhorse, having been in service (with upgrades, of course) for over 50 years. They are bound to have their off days.

After all, the US Shuttle has killed more astronauts (14) than all other spacecraft combined. . .

I do agree, though, that we need to get our act together. Relying on Soviet spacecraft to access space is a national embarrassment.

Oh I agree - law of averages is bound to catch up to Soyuz - they have had an incredible launch record after some initial failures back in the 60s.

And I'm glad we shut the shuttle down and moved back toward launch systems which protect the crew throughout the process as opposed to the "good luck" approach of the Shuttle.

I just wish the Commercial Crew Program was already flying - unmanned test flight are supposed to start in Jan 19 with crewed test flights in the spring.

quote:

I do agree, though, that we need to get our act together. Relying on Soviet spacecraft to access space is a national embarrassment

There is a scheduled manned flight from the cape in April.

quote:

Originally posted by festus haggen:
Hope they were wearing industrial strength Depends.

Probably a cheap Russian copy.

quote:

Originally posted by walker77:

quote:

I do agree, though, that we need to get our act together. Relying on Soviet spacecraft to access space is a national embarrassment

There is a scheduled manned flight from the cape in April.

Yeah, but those are still just baby step test flights. Unmanned, then crewed test flights, followed by the first legit crewed transport missions in the summer (assuming all goes well with the CCP).

The abort appears to be automatic after the first stage began separation and the launch escape tower was jettisoned. Apparently an issue with the second stage.

Regardless as much as I'd prefer our people ride US rockets up and back, that was a pretty dynamic abort phase for the spacecraft / launcher and both crew members walked away from the anomaly.

Some more information and photos (too large to post) here Soyuz crew safe after emergency landing

View from Russian TV feed.

"Ballistic mode decent" in Russian; "Мы падаем, как гребаная скала здесь!"

If you're playing Kerbal Space Program, you probably know Scott Manley. Here's a bit of analysis.

Crew I've talked to that have ridden in Soyuz say it's a rough ride on a good day. Can't imagine what this one was like.