Pair cheated death after rocket failure

TWO astronauts cheated death after their rocket boosters malfunctioned on a mission to the International Space Station.

Russian Alexey Ovchinin and American Nick Hague made an emergency landing in Kazakhstan after a botched launch.

The crew reported feeling weightless and endured a bumpy ride back down to Earth with extreme levels of G-force.

Confirming they were safe, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said: “Thank God, the crew is alive.”

Rescue

The Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft engine failed mid-air causing it to fall at speed.

A three-stage booster suffered an emergency failure and shut down during its second stage. The Russian-made rocket had taken off at 8.40am for a six-hour journey to the ISS.

It was 43-year-old Lieutenant Colonel Hague’s first trip into space.

He and Major Ovchinin, 47, were due to spend six months on the station working on a number of scientific experiments.

Search and rescue teams scrambled to sweep the landing site and the astronauts were found unhurt. A Nasa statement said: “Hague and Ovchinin are out of the capsule and are reported to be in good condition.”

It is another major setback for the Russian space programme, which has been dogged by a string of launch failures in recent years. FIRST TIMER: Nick Hague SAFE: Alexey Ovchinin