MOSCOW — The crew of the Soyuz space capsule that landed hundreds of miles off target in Kazakhstan was in serious danger during the descent, a Russian news agency reported Tuesday.
Interfax quoted an unidentified Russian space official as saying the capsule entered Earth’s atmosphere Saturday with the hatch first instead of its heat shield leading the way. As a result, the hatch sustained significant damage. The official said a valve that equalizes pressure within the TMA-11 capsule with the outside also was damaged.
In addition, the capsule’s antenna burned up, meaning the crew couldn’t communicate properly, the official said.
Interfax said another official reported that the U.S. military tracked the Soyuz’s landing 260 miles from its planned touchdown and directed Russian searchers to the site.
The Soyuz crew included American astronaut Peggy Whitson; South Korea’s first astronaut, Yi So-Yeon; and Russian flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko.
