A video taken by cameras on an unmanned Russian spacecraft shows the ship spinning out of control in what appears to be a serious malfunction -- much like a scene from the Sandra Bullock movie Gravity.
The Progress spaceship launched atop a Soyuz rocket on its way to deliver supplies to the International Space Station earlier Tuesday. But shortly after launch, mission managers noticed a problem.
Officials on the ground weren’t able to see if the spacecraft was in the proper configuration to dock to the ISS, so they called off the docking attempt — initially scheduled for six hours after launch.
Mission controllers also noticed that Progress was in a slow spin.
The six crew members living and working on the ISS are not in danger. The cosmonauts and astronauts have plenty of supplies, even if this Progress doesn’t reach the station, according to NASA.
Officials are still trying to find a way to salvage the mission and get the approximately 6,000 lbs of supplies on the Progress to the station. But they likely won’t know anything new until tonight when the ship makes another pass over Russian ground stations, NASA says. Officials still aren’t sure what’s causing the problems aboard the Progress.