NASA has inquired about utilizing a SpaceX Dragon capsule to deliver astronauts residence from the Worldwide Area Station (ISS) following a latest leak aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule, a NASA weblog submit has said.
On Dec. 15, 2022, the Soyuz spacecraft MS-22 suffered a significant coolant leak whereas docked on the ISS simply previous to a deliberate Russian spacewalk. Whereas the leaky Soyuz poses no instant hazard to the space station or its crew, it stays unknown if the Soyuz craft is flightworthy; as such, the MS-22 crew not has a viable lifeboat within the occasion of an emergency.
In an try and doubtlessly safe an alternate lifeboat for Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, NASA and Russian space company Roscosmos are conducting a assessment of obtainable choices, which included inquiring with SpaceX about utilizing certainly one of its Dragon capsules as a alternative for Soyuz MS-22.Â
“As part of the evaluation, NASA additionally reached out to SpaceX about its functionality to return further 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,” the space company wrote in a Dec. 30 blog post (opens in new tab).
Associated: Rescue Soyuz spacecraft can’t reach International Space Station until February
A earlier report printed by Reuters said the identical, however NASA’s weblog submit confirms that the company is, in actual fact, mulling utilizing a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft as an ISS lifeboat. “We’ve got requested SpaceX a couple of questions on their functionality to return further crew members on Dragon if needed, however that isn’t our prime focus at the moment,” NASA spokesperson Sandra Jones said in a statement to Reuters printed final Wednesday (Dec. 28).
Another choice is for Roscosmos to ship a alternative Soyuz craft. However the earliest such a mission might launch would be February, in keeping with statements made by Sergei Krikalev, head of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Coaching Heart close to Moscow, throughout a livestreamed NASA press convention on Dec. 22. “Our subsequent crew … was scheduled to fly in the course of March,” Krikalev stated, including that, on the earliest, a brand new Soyuz might be “despatched up slightly earlier … about two, three weeks earlier is on the most what we will do at this level.”
Roscosmos continues to be investigating the cause of the leak and plans to situation its findings this month. Russian state information company TASS reported on Dec. 27 that the leak was attributable to “external mechanical damage (opens in new tab),” though it stays unknown whether or not the offender was a meteoroid or space particles.
No matter the reason for the leak, the broken Soyuz spacecraft presents a big security concern for the MS-22 crew, Rubio, Petelin and Prokopyev. Tommaso Sgobba, government director of the Worldwide Affiliation for the Development of Area Security (IAASS) and a former head of spaceflight security on the European Area Company, advised Area.com that the leaky Soyuz is a huge risk. “This is able to likely be the primary time that the space station has no full lifeboat functionality,” Sgobba stated. “It is my private feeling, but when it is true, we’ve a giant downside on the space station. We’re lacking the crew escape system.”
One potential hindrance to utilizing a Dragon as a lifeboat is the spacesuits the crew of MS-22 wore; SpaceX capsules are designed to work in conjunction with custom-tailored SpaceX spacesuits, whereas the MS-22 crew launched to the ISS carrying Russian Sokol spacesuits.
SpaceX has but to situation a remark relating to the opportunity of sending a Dragon capsule to the ISS to exchange the beleaguered Soyuz MS-22.Â
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