International Space Station goes out of control after misfire of Russian module-In pics

The mishap began about three hours after the multipurpose Nauka module had latched onto the space station, as mission controllers in Moscow were performing some post-docking "reconfiguration" procedures, according to NASA.

Image credit: Reuters

As per Reuters report, the module`s jets inexplicably restarted, causing the entire station to pitch out of its normal flight position some 250 miles above the Earth, leading the mission`s flight director to declare a "spacecraft emergency," U.S. space agency officials said.

Image credit: Reuters

According to Joel Montalbano, manager of NASA`s space station program, an unexpected drift in the station`s orientation was first detected by automated ground sensors, followed 15 minutes later by a "loss of attitude control" that lasted a little over 45 minutes.

Image credit: Reuters

According to a Reuters report, the flight teams on the ground managed to restore the space station`s orientation by activating thrusters on another module of the orbiting platform. The Nauka engines were ultimately switched off, the space station was stabilized and its orientation was restored to where it had begun, said NASA.

Image credit: Reuters

The seven crew members aboard - two Russian cosmonauts, three NASA astronauts, a Japanese astronaut, and a European space agency astronaut from France - were never in any immediate danger, according to NASA and Russian state-owned news agency RIA.

Image credit: Reuters