NASA would possibly use a SpaceX spacecraft to rescue three space station crew members relying on a leaky Soyuz to get residence, a report suggests.
The Soyuz spacecraft on the International Space Station suffered a extreme coolant leak on Dec. 15 and a choice about whether or not it’s protected to ship the crew again to Earth on it’s going to come in January, Russia has stated. If a rescue Soyuz craft is required it might solely come in February, two or three weeks earlier than the traditional changeover in March.
NASA is outwardly contemplating utilizing SpaceX, the one firm at the moment flying astronauts into space from American soil, as a backup if these choices do not work out.
“We’ve got requested SpaceX just a few questions on their functionality to return further crew members on Dragon if obligatory, however that isn’t our prime focus presently,” NASA spokesperson Sandra Jones said in a statement to Reuters (opens in new tab), printed Wednesday (Dec. 28). SpaceX didn’t reply to Reuters requests for remark.
Associated: Hole in leaky Soyuz spacecraft not caused by Geminid meteor
NASA didn’t make clear with Reuters what choices with SpaceX could be attainable, reminiscent of whether or not the corporate might launch a backup Crew Dragon spacecraft to select up the crew, or add extra seats to the prevailing Dragon (known as Endeavour) docked on the space station.
All seats on Endeavour are nominally full, as it’s speculated to bear residence Crew-5 in early 2023, together with NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina.
The crew that was utilizing the affected Soyuz, known as MS-22, consists of Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin, and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, every of whom got here to space in a Russian Sokol spacesuit. Usually, SpaceX solely launches crew members who’ve been fitted for a custom-made SpaceX spacesuit. How this concern could be overcome was additionally not addressed within the report.
Associated: How SpaceX’s sleek spacesuit changes astronaut fashion from the space shuttle era
The reason for the leak on Soyuz MS-22 has not but been decided, nevertheless it might originate from space particles or a micrometeroid that was unable to be tracked as a result of small measurement. Observe-up scans of the Soyuz confirmed a hole in its radiator exterior.
The ISS crew is in no fast hazard from the state of affairs, however the concern comes if the advanced needed to be evacuated for no matter cause, as in the meanwhile, it’s attainable that three people haven’t any protected journey residence.
Elizabeth Howell is the co-author of “Why Am I Taller (opens in new tab)?” (ECW Press, 2022; with Canadian astronaut Dave Williams), a ebook about space drugs. Observe her on Twitter @howellspace (opens in new tab). Observe us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or Facebook (opens in new tab).
