Russia Creates Group to Consider Temporary Shutdown of ISS After Soyuz Incident
The Russian state commission, established after the failed liftoff of the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle on Thursday, has set up a subcommission to consider the options for further exploitation of the International Space Station (ISS), including the possibility of its temporary shutdown, a source in the rocket and space industry told Sputnik on Saturday.
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"A subcommission has been created that will be engaged in considering the options for ISS further exploitation. It suggests both studying the negative scenario of the station's temporary shutdown and the elaboration of a new flight schedule," the source said.
According to the source, the subcommission is closely cooperating with foreign partners.
On Thursday, an accident occurred during the launch of a Soyuz-FG launch vehicle carrying the Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft with two new ISS crew members on board. Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin NASA astronaut Nick Hague safely returned to Earth in a jettisoned escape capsule.
The incident became the first failure of a manned space launch in modern Russian history. The crash is being investigated by a special commission of Russia's space agency Roscosmos. All manned launches from Baikonur Cosmodrome have been suspended until the commission finds out the causes of the failure.