Alva Review-Courier -

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The NASA astronaut who survived last week's failed launch and emergency landing knew he needed to stay calm.

Air Force Col. Nick Hague on Tuesday described the closest call of his career: His space capsule violently ripped from his damaged rocket shortly after liftoff, then with lights flashing and alarms sounding, plunged steeply back to Earth with punishing force.

Hague said he and his commander, Russian Alexei Ovchinin, were flung from side to side and shoved back hard into their seats, as the drama unfolded 50 kilometers (31 miles) above Kazakhstan last Thursday...