Russia’s space agency aborts launch of 3 astronauts to the International Space Station; all are safe

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s Roscosmos space agency has aborted the launch of three astronauts to the International Space Station about 20 seconds before they were scheduled to lift off. Officials say the crew is safe. The Russian Soyuz rocket was to carry NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, Oleg Novitsky of Roscosmos and Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus from the Russian-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan. The launch was aborted by an automatic safety system. NASA and Russian space officials said the crew was safe, and Yuri Borisov, chief of Russia’s Roscosmos space corporation, said the next launch attempt is set for Saturday. Borisov told reporters that the launch abort was triggered by a voltage drop in a power source.