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U.S. and Russian Astronauts Forced to Make Emergency Landing After Rocket Fails

American and Russian astronauts were headed to the International Space Station.

Two astronauts have been forced to make an emergency landing after their Russian-made booster rocket malfunctioned after takeoff. The astronauts—Russian Alexey Ovchinin and American Nick Hague—took off for the International Space Station early Thursday morning from the Russia-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz booster rocket carrying their capsule suffered a failure minutes after takeoff and they were forced to return to earth. Their lives “are not in danger,” according Russian state TV, and they’ve landed safely in Kazakhstan. In a statement, NASA said: “The crew are in good condition and in contact. Search and rescue teams are en route to the landing location and we await further updates.”