Russian President Vladimir Putin has awarded US astronaut Nick Hague with the Order of Courage for the bravery that he showed during the aborted launch of Russia's Soyuz-FG rocket in October 2018
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th October, 2019) Russian President Vladimir Putin has awarded US astronaut Nick Hague with the Order of Courage for the bravery that he showed during the aborted launch of Russia's Soyuz-FG rocket in October 2018.
On October 11, 2018, the Soyuz-FG booster failed to launch the Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft, which was supposed to bring Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin to the International Space Station (ISS).The mission was aborted due to booster malfunction minutes after liftoff. The two-man crew escaped in a rescue capsule and returned to the ground unharmed.
"To award the Order of Courage to Hague, Nicklaus Tyler, an astronaut of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA] and a US citizen," Putin's decree, published on the official legal information portal, read.
According to the decree, Hague is awarded for "the courage and high professionalism shown when performing his duty in conditions of increased risk to life in an emergency situation."
As Russian State Space Corporation Roscosmos and NASA agreed to organize a new flight promptly, Hague and Ovchinin arrived at the ISS on March 15, together with NASA astronaut Christina Koch. On October 3, Hague and Ovchinin returned to Earth aboard a Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft, together with the first UAE astronaut, Hazzaa Al Mansoori.
