Alternative Soyuz to deliver residence stranded ISS crew
The Russian space company Roscosmos says it should launch the subsequent scheduled Soyuz – an uncrewed mission – one month early. That’s so it will probably change the leaking Soyuz capsule MS-22, presently docked on the Worldwide Area Station (ISS). That capsule carried three crew members to the ISS final September. However on December 15, 2022, a micrometeoroid – a tiny little bit of rock in space – struck the MS-22. The particle pierced the capsule’s radiator, inflicting it to leak. So, the Soyuz capsule MS-22 has been out of motion, its crew technically stranded till the substitute MS-23 arrives.
The stranded crew members are: Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Demitri Petelin, and American astronaut Frank Rubio.
MS-23 is scheduled to liftoff on February 20, 2023.
Trio of ISS crew members haven’t any experience residence
Presently, there are seven folks residing within the Worldwide Area Station. And there are solely 4 obtainable seats to return residence on the four-person SpaceX Dragon crew capsule presently docked on the ISS. So, the early launch of a Soyuz crew capsule isn’t a rescue mission, stated NASA ISS program supervisor Joel Montalbano. He was talking throughout a media briefing held Wednesday morning, January 11, 2023:
We’re not calling it a rescue Soyuz. Proper now, the crew is secure on board the space station. We, by design, have a space station that’s protected as we will (make it).
The upcoming mission will not be a rescue, as a result of there may be presently no menace to the security of the marooned crew members. He stated:
I’m calling it a substitute Soyuz. That is the subsequent Soyuz that was scheduled to fly in March. It’ll simply fly a bit of earlier. From that standpoint, that’s type of what we’re , however I’ll let you know there’s no quick want for the crew to return residence right this moment that every one the techniques are working.
The seven crew aboard the ISS make up Expedition 68, which is scheduled to finish in March 2023.
Alternative Soyuz is the most secure choice
Sending up a substitute Soyuz capsule is the most suitable choice to make sure the crew’s well-being throughout re-entry, stated Sergei Krikalev. He’s the chief director for human spaceflight applications at Roscosmos.
He stated techs and engineers at Roscosmos consider the MS-22 Soyuz will survive returning to Earth. However the setting inside it would show overwhelming for any passengers. Krikalev described the hazard:
If a crew can be there then the temperatures … may very well be in excessive 30s, possibly low 40 levels centigrade. And temperature itself will not be so excessive, however the issue is that in small quantity, humidity may be excessive, and crew could overheat with excessive temperature and excessive humidity. That’s why we’re not planning to make use of Soyuz in nominal conditions for a great entry.
Roscosmos might be counting on the hardiness of its Soviet-era expertise to see the capsule residence in a single piece:
Krikalev additional defined:
As for re-entry, we anticipate that possibly we may have some overheating of kit and nonetheless we predict that Soyuz (has) a number of layers of redundancy, and if the pc fails, we now have functionality to proceed re-entry mode in analog with analog gear, so we now have a number of layers of redundancy, so we predict that Soyuz will return again safely.
15,660 mph meteor induced leak
After analyzing the leak that began December 15, Roscosmos and NASA consider a 1mm micrometeor induced the leak. Touring at breakneck pace, the minuscule piece of particles pierced the Russian spacecraft, Krikalev stated:
We nonetheless suppose that it’s a micrometeor hit as a result of we now have (an) picture of the crater on (the) radiator. And we additionally made an experiment utilizing (a) particular high-velocity gun, and we did (an) experiment making an attempt to hit an aluminum plate with the identical construction with a small particle about 2 millimeters in diameter. And our results of this take a look at fully coincides with our calculation, so our present concept is that this harm was attributable to a small particle about 1 millimeter in diameter and velocity about 7 kilometers per second.
Which means the tiny rock that hit the Soyuz was shifting at round 15,660 mph (25,202 kph) relative to the ISS. The ISS orbits at a speedy 17,500 mph (28,000 kph) across the Earth.
No approach residence till March
With the MS-22 Soyuz not space-worthy, the trio it dropped at orbit don’t have a secure option to get residence within the occasion of an emergency. Ought to an evacuation state of affairs come up, the three must strive their luck with the broken Soyuz.
Arrival of their secure experience residence continues to be weeks away, with added delays as soon as it arrives. Krikalev stated:
Proper now, we’re planning to ship it in (the) finish of February, February twentieth really, and normally we have to have a few week for a crew handover and shifting all gear from one service (module) to a different if wanted. So at this level we additionally anticipate that we (will) put together and be taught to make use of (the substitute Soyuz for) every week or two after docking of latest Soyuz.
As a result of the three stranded space vacationers are an built-in crew, NASA and Roscosmos have put their heads collectively to seek out the perfect answer. For NASA, that meant discovering out if SpaceX may assist:
As part of the evaluation, NASA additionally reached out to SpaceX about its functionality to return extra crew members aboard Dragon if wanted in an emergency, though the first focus is on understanding the post-leak capabilities of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft.
Backside line: An uncrewed Soyuz capsule will fly to the ISS in February to supply a secure approach residence for a trio of quickly stranded crew members.
