Watch: Soyuz rocket carrying space station crew malfunctions mid air; astronauts safe after emergency landing

The two crew members of a Soyuz rocket had a narrow escape as the rocket made an emergency landing after an engine problem on lift-off to the International Space Station.

Image: Screengrab from video tweeted by @MikeThePhotog

New Delhi: The two crew members of a Soyuz rocket had a narrow escape as the rocket made an emergency landing after an engine problem on lift-off to the International Space Station. The two crew members aboard were US astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksey Ovchinin. The Russian space agency Roscosmsos informed in a tweet that the emergency rescue system worked and the vessel was able to land in Kazakhstan and the crew are alive.  It informed that the pair is in contact with ground control. The failure gave another setback to the already troubled Russian space industry which over the past few years has suffered a series of problems including the loss of a number of satellites and other spacecraft. The Soyuz MS-10 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the ISS at 4.40 a.m. on Thursday NASA informed that there was an "issue with the booster" and the "crew is returning to Earth in a ballistic descent mode", which is a sharper angle of descent compared to normal. "Shortly after launch, there was an issue with the booster. Teams have confirmed the spacecraft separated from the booster and are in contact with the crew as the capsule returns in a ballistic decent mode, the agency said in a post.

The Soyuz capsule is returning to Earth via a ballistic descent, which is a sharper angle of landing compared to normal. Search and rescue teams are heading towards the expected touchdown location of the spacecraft and crew. Live updates: https://t.co/mzKW5uDsTi pic.twitter.com/PH5t96RAfB

— NASA (@NASA) October 11, 2018

The search and rescue teams have reached the Soyuz spacecraft landing site and report that the two crew members are in good condition and are out of the capsule. Search and rescue teams are with the crew now. Latest updates: https://t.co/mzKW5uDsTi pic.twitter.com/WzomVblhtI

— NASA (@NASA) October 11, 2018

Russian TV journalist  Michael R. Hartz‏ shared the video of the failure on Twitter. He wrote: "Scary video of the SoyuzMS10 malfunction. NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin are reportedly in good condition after making an emergency landing

Scary video of the #SoyuzMS10 malfunction. @NASA astronaut Nick Hague and @Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin are reportedly in good condition after making an emergency landing. #Soyuz #NASA https://t.co/6BbQFiVScL pic.twitter.com/gLnKFzKoqn

— Michael R. Hartz (@MikeThePhotog) October 11, 2018