Order of Lenin medal.
Oct. 11, 2019
Rescued from the Soyuz rocket accident in October 2018, astronaut Nick Hague has received from the Russian president a prestigious distinction for his courage.
Soyuz MS-10 launch failure
Russian President Vladimir Putin has awarded the Order of Courage, one of the highest honors of the country, to an American astronaut. He had survived a year ago the failed takeoff of a Soyuz rocket.
According to a presidential decree published on Tuesday, the American Nick Hague, 44, is rewarded for "his courage and his high degree of professionalism" in perilous conditions during the launch at the Russian cosmodrome of Baikonur, located in Kazakhstan.
On October 11, 2018, the "Soyuz" rocket in which Nick Hague had sailed and the Russian Alexey Ovchinin had disintegrated minutes after taking off for the International Space Station (ISS), an unprecedented accident for the Russian space program since the end of the USSR.
After being successfully ejected by the automatic rescue system, the two men were released unscathed despite the very strong pressure. "It was a quick flight," commented Alexei Ovchinin, laconic, moments after the start of the incident. According to NASA, "launcher failure" occurred after 119 seconds of travel, while the rocket was launched at over 7500 km / h.
In March, they returned successfully to the ISS, where they returned last week after a six-month mission. It was the first space stay for Nick Hague, and the second for Alexey Ovchinin.
Considered one of the highest Russian distinctions, the Order of Courage is often awarded posthumously.
The International Space Station is one of the latest examples of active cooperation between Russia and the United States in a context of unprecedented tensions since the Cold War.
Related articles:
Crew in Good Condition After Booster Failure
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2018/10/crew-in-good-condition-after-booster.html
Soyuz MS-10 - Emergency landing after a failure
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2018/10/soyuz-ms-10-emergency-landing-after.html
Images, Video, Text, Credits: ATS / NASA / ROSCOSMOS / SciNews / Orbiter.ch Aerospace / Roland Berga.
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