Support The Moscow Times!

Putin Gives Top State Honor to U.S. Astronaut Who Survived Russian Rocket Emergency

Nick Hague Bill Ingalls / NASA

President Vladimir Putin has presented U.S. astronaut Nick Hague with one of Russia’s top state honors a year after the astronaut survived an emergency onboard a Russian spacecraft.

Hague, along with Russian cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin, made a dramatic emergency landing in the steppes of Kazakhstan in October 2018 when a booster rocket on their Soyuz launch vehicle failed — the first such accident in post-Soviet history. Footage from inside the Soyuz showed the two men being shaken around as the rocket failed minutes after blastoff, but neither needed medical treatment.

Putin awarded Hague the Order of Courage for “high professionalism shown in the line of duty in high-risk conditions during an emergency,” according to an Oct. 4 decree published on Russia’s official government portal Tuesday.

Hague and Ovchinin made it back to the ISS in March and returned to Earth after a 203-day mission Thursday.

The U.S. relies on Russia to carry its astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) which was launched 20 years ago. NASA tentatively plans to send its first crew to the ISS using a SpaceX craft instead of a Soyuz next April.

Putin recently granted the Order of Courage posthumously to 10 of the 14 sailors killed in a fire on a secret nuclear submarine near the Arctic in July. He gave the other four submariners Russia’s highest state award: the title of Hero of Russia.

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysiss and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more