Soyuz Fails to Undock
The Soyuz spacecraft that should have brought three International Space Station (ISS) crew members home failed to undock last night.
According to NASA, “The planned undocking was prevented when commands being sent to disengage the hooks and latches holding the Soyuz TMA-18 spacecraft failed.” Engineers are troubleshooting the problem and another attempt is scheduled for tonight at 10:02 pm EDT.
Soyuz spacecraft will soon become the only way for astronauts to come and go from the ISS once the space shuttle is retired. It also is the only crew rescue vehicle — lifeboat — that is supposed to be able to quickly take ISS crew members away from the ISS in an emergency. This failure to undock is a serious problem.
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