Saw this on youtube, glad it turned out well and the astronauts are OK....

John

https://www.foxnews.com/science/us-russian-astronauts-make-dangerous-ballistic-re-entry-into-earths-atmosphere-after-rocket-fails

Trusty ole Soyuz

Quote

the Soyuz capsule rotates on its axis of trajectory during descent to boost stability (similar to a bullet fired from a rifle)

That must be one heck of a carnival ride!

The U.S. astronaut trained five years to go on this mission to the I.S.S.  Bummer! 

The emergency recovery system worked well.  Anything mechanical from a toaster over on up can fail. I believe I read somewhere that the anticipated possible failure rate of the USA space shuttle was somewhere around 2% and sadly they lost two. On the whole the Soyuz seems to be a very reliable, robust vehicle with an emergency escape system that works.

Dave

Yes the Russians get a bad reputation sometimes but when it comes to the Soyuz System, I would call it the B737 of rockets. 

Soyuz first launch 1966
Boeing 737 First Flight 1966

Soyuz now in its fourth generation design, Boeing 737 now in its fourth generation design

Not sure how many Soyuz launches to date but it would be in the hundreds by now, but by far more launches then any other rocket, just like the 737 has far more flight cycles then anything else. Like the 737 it will be decades before anything else can catch up, if ever.

Also like the 737 it is the most successful and safest launch vehicle to date. If you never had an appreciation for old Soyuz before you should rethink that

Edited October 12, 20187 yr by Matthew Kane