The Pic of the Day: After rocket abort mid-flight, astronaut makes it to the ISS on second launch

The Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft lifted off with Expedition 59 crewmembers Nick Hague and Christina Koch of NASA, along with Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos, on Thursday, March 14, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Hague, Koch and Ovchinin will spend six-and-a-half months living and working aboard the International Space Station. (NASA photo)

Per the U.S. Air Force:

Few Airman astronauts have aborted their space flight mission after launch, and even fewer received the opportunity to relaunch just months later.

Col. Nick Hague, an astronaut, is scheduled for a second mission to the International Space Station aboard a Soyuz MS-12, on March 14, 2019, from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

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Hague, who is set to join the Expedition 59 crew, will conduct hundreds of research investigations and technology demonstrations to advance scientific knowledge of Earth, space, physical and biological sciences, according to NASA.

On Oct. 11, 2018, Hague and his commander, Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin, were forced to abort their mission when their rocket booster failed to detach once they reached zero gravity.

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“We (were) at the apex of our trajectory, and I’m staring out there at the curve of the Earth, and the darkness of space … you’re so close you can touch it,” Hague said. “And to have that ripped out of your hands, that’s devastating.”

As they plummeted to Earth at 4,700 miles per hour, Hague’s years of Air Force training enabled his life-saving response.

“The career I had leading up to that launch prepared me to respond to that situation,” Hague said. “It wasn’t my first in-flight emergency. We had those when I was doing flight testing out at Edwards Air Force Base (California). I think what you realize as you gain these experiences is the best thing you can do in the situation to help yourself is maintain your cool and trust in your training.”

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Watch the onboard camera during Soyuz MS-10’s aborted flight below: