MOSCOW, 17 April. / TASS /. The engines of the Russian Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft with cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, as well as the American astronaut Kathleen Rubins on board, were switched on to carry out a deorbit combustion, the Russian space corporation Roscosmos said on Saturday in said a Twitter post.
“At 07:01:30 in Moscow, an order was given to burn fire trucks for burns. The burn lasted 4.5 minutes,” Roscosmos said.
The spacecraft departed from the International Space Station (ISS) around 04:34 Moscow time.
Meanwhile, a search-and-rescue air group from the Russian central military district has departed for the alleged landing site of the Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft in Kazakhstan, the press’ press service said in a statement on Saturday.
The landing is scheduled for Saturday at 07:56 Moscow time. Cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, as well as American astronaut Kathleen Rubins are on board the spacecraft.
“To ensure the search and rescue effort during the landing <…> 12 Mi-8MTV5-1 helicopters of the Russian air force, two An-12 aircraft and one An-26 aircraft of the Central Military District’s transport aircraft took off from airports in Zhezqazghan, Baikonur and Karaganda. The search and rescue zone is 147 km southeast of Zhezqazghan, “the statement read.
Equipment, rescuers and teams of doctors are on board the plane. The exact location of the landing site is determined by the An-26 crew. In addition, rescue teams were deployed on the ground in the main and alternative landing areas.