Space rocket fails, US, Russian astronauts make emergency return
More than 40 miles above Earth and hurtling toward space faster than a rifle bullet, a rocket carrying an American astronaut, a Russian cosmonaut and hundreds of tons of explosive fuel failed less than two minutes after liftoff Thursday, forcing the crew to make a harrowing but safe emergency landing.
The capsule parachuted to Earth about 12 to 15 miles outside Zhezqazghan, a small city in central Kazakhstan, and neither of the crew members was injured, both the Russian and U.S. space agencies said.
Russian state TV broadcast pictures of the capsule sitting in the middle of a flat, barren landscape dotted with low shrubs.