Russia’s space company will launch an empty Soyuz capsule to the Worldwide House Station February to switch a broken spacecraft that’s unsafe to return its crew of three to Earth, NASA and Russian space officers mentioned Wednesday (Jan. 11).Â
The brand new MS-23 Soyuz spacecraft will launch on Feb. 20 from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to switch the stricken Soyuz MS-22 capsule on the station, which suffered a coolant leak on Dec. 14 after being struck by a possible micrometeoroid, NASA and Russia’s Roscosmos company mentioned.Â
“We’re not calling this a rescue Soyuz,” Joel Montalbano, NASA’s space station program supervisor, instructed reporters Wednesday. “I am calling it a substitute Soyuz. That is the following Soyuz that was scheduled to fly in March. It would simply fly a little bit early.”
The substitute Soyuz spacecraft will function the brand new lifeboat and return craft for NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin, who’ve been residing on the International Space Station with out a return ship since their MS-22 Soyuz was broken final month. It is an unprecedented state of affairs, officers have mentioned.Â
Associated: Hole in leaky Soyuz spacecraft not caused by Geminid meteor
The coolant leak on Dec. 14, which was captured in dramatic video by station cameras, meant the Soyuz MS-22 is unable to maintain its crew capsule and methods cool sufficient for secure operation. That left its crew with out a lifeboat in case of an emergency, for the reason that presently docked SpaceX Dragon capsule was designed to carry solely its 4 Crew-5 mission astronauts, not seven folks.
“The primary drawback to land with the present Soyuz can be thermal situations,” Sergei Krikalev, a veteran Russian cosmonaut and Roscosmos’ government director for human spaceflight methods, mentioned in the course of the information convention. “As a result of we misplaced warmth rejection functionality on Soyuz, in case we’ve got crew inside and we’ve got all tools switched on, we could have a high-temperature scenario on Soyuz within the tools compartment and crew compartment.” He famous that within the confined space of the capsule, humidity ranges would additionally soar.
“The temperatures in these areas wouldn’t be wholesome for the crew,” Montalbano added.
Rubio and his crewmates will now return to Earth aboard the Soyuz MS-23, however precisely when shouldn’t be but identified. Their mission will probably be prolonged by months as a result of their Soyuz MS-23 was initially slated to ship a brand new crew to the station in March. That crew will now have to attend for one more new Soyuz, MS-24, to be accomplished.Â
Krikalev mentioned that the delayed return will add not less than a number of extra months to the crew’s unique six-month mission, which launched in September 2022, and that they may face the potential of an almost yearlong flight whereas awaiting their aid crew’s launch.
“The superior factor about our crews is that they’re keen to assist wherever we ask.” Montalbano mentioned. “They’re ready to remain till the September launch date if that is the case. In the event that they go earlier, and that launch date strikes up earlier, then they’re ready to return house earlier.
“I’ll need to fly some extra ice cream to reward them,” Montalbano added.
In the meantime, NASA is weighing potential delays to its Crew-6 astronaut launch on a SpaceX Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 rocket, presently concentrating on Feb. 16. A ripple impact is probably going as NASA and Russia rearrange launch schedules.
Montalbano mentioned NASA and SpaceX have been engaged on contingency plans in case the stranded Soyuz MS-22 crew must return to Earth earlier than their new Soyuz MS-23 ship arrives. These plans presently name for securing the Soyuz crew contained in the cargo space of the Crew-5 Dragon capsule, however talks are nonetheless ongoing, he added.
Whereas the stricken Soyuz MS-22 capsule is unfit to hold a human crew, it is going to nonetheless be guided to a nominal touchdown on the steppes of Kazakhstan, Krikalev mentioned. That touchdown will happen a number of weeks after the substitute Soyuz MS-23 arrives on the station, since Rubio, Prokopyev and Petelin should switch their customized seat liners, Sokol entry fits and different gear to the brand new ship.Â
Krikalev mentioned Roscosmos will load up the departing Soyuz MS-22 craft with gear and science experiment outcomes that will not be harmed by increased temperatures in the course of the journey to Earth. And the brand new Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft will probably be loaded with additional cargo rather than a human crew when it launches, he added.Â
Montalbano mentioned station engineers may even take shut measurements of the temperatures contained in the uncrewed Soyuz MS-22 when it returns to Earth to know what the heating surroundings is like on such a broken spacecraft.Â
“So we will absolutely use this car all the way in which to till it lands again on Earth,” Montalbano mentioned.Â
E-mail Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or comply with him @tariqjmalik (opens in new tab). Observe us @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab), Facebook (opens in new tab) and Instagram (opens in new tab).
