SpaceX’s astronaut taxi might get a protect improve.
NASA is contemplating asking SpaceX to spice up the present shielding on the corporate’s Crew Dragon capsule after one thing blasted a tiny gap in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in December 2022, company officers mentioned throughout a press convention on Wednesday (Jan. 25). Â
The strike, doubtless by a micrometeoroid, occurred whereas the Soyuz was docked to the International Space Station (ISS), the place it stays at the moment. The influence prompted a coolant leak that rendered the Soyuz car, often known as MS-22, unsafe to hold astronauts residence besides in case of emergency.Â
So Russia’s space company Roscosmos has determined to launch an empty Soyuz on Feb. 20 to deliver the three MS-22 crewmembers again to Earth. That journey is anticipated to happen in September, about six months after the trio’s authentic deliberate homecoming date.
Associated: International Space Station: Live updates
The discussions with SpaceX are within the early levels; the shield-boost thought was simply raised Tuesday (Jan. 24) at a commonly scheduled business crew assembly, mentioned Steve Stich, program supervisor for NASA’s Industrial Crew Program.Â
“We began to speak about a little bit bit — Is there something we are able to do now?” he mentioned in Wednesday’s press convention, which offered an replace on ISS operations and the following SpaceX mission to the station, Crew-6, which is scheduled to lift off on Feb. 26.
SpaceX’s Sarah Walker mentioned the corporate is aligned with NASA’s objectives. Walker, who’s director of Dragon mission administration, additionally emphasised that each one analyses thus far present that the Crew Dragon docked on the ISS now, known as Endurance, is doing simply positive.
“The Dragon methods are wholesome and working nominally,” Walker mentioned throughout Wednesday’s press convention of Endurance, which launched to the orbiting lab this previous October on SpaceX’s Crew-5 mission for NASA.
Roscosmos officers say that the broken Soyuz MS-22 may accommodate two of its three crewmembers if an emergency necessitated the evacuation of the ISS. The journey again to Earth can be heat with no coolant, nonetheless. The 2 who would make that journey on MS-22 are cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin. The third crewmember, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, would be a part of the 4 Crew-5 astronauts on Endurance in a “lifeboat” scenario.
NASA thought of quite a few security questions earlier than approving Rubio’s seat liner for a transfer from Soyuz MS-22 to Endurance, company officers mentioned Wednesday, together with ensuring there was sufficient oxygen within the SpaceX craft, that carbon dioxide may very well be minimized and that touchdown would occur safely.Â
SpaceX initially designed the Crew Dragon car to hold as many as seven individuals. However Endurance was outfitted with simply 4 seats, and securing Rubio as an surprising fifth crewmember required intelligent repurposing of provides in orbit.
“We checked out taking some cargo straps from, truly, the CRS-26 car,” Stich mentioned, referring to a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule that is docked to the ISS proper now. “We have been in a position to put the straps over Frank after which the seat liner, if we wanted to, after which safe him to the ground of the Dragon,” he added.
The empty Soyuz car, often known as MS-23, will launch throughout a stretch that NASA affiliate administrator Kathy Lueders known as “one of many busiest increments within the historical past of station” throughout Wednesday’s press convention.
Among the many many scheduled crewed launches to the ISS within the first half of 2022 are Crew Flight Take a look at, the primary astronaut mission for Boeing’s Starliner capsule; SpaceX’s Crew-6; and Ax-2, the second crewed mission to the orbiting lab by non-public firm Axiom Space.Â
Crew-6 will see the Dragon Endeavour fly the primary United Arab Emirates astronaut on a long-duration mission (Sultan Al Neyadi). The opposite crewmates are NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.
The Soyuz MS-22 crew will even see their time in space doubled to a yr in orbit as they await the launch of a crewed Soyuz later in 2023 to alleviate their duties on the ISS. The present forecast for MS-22’s touchdown is in late September.Â
Elizabeth Howell is the co-author of “Why Am I Taller (opens in new tab)?” (ECW Press, 2022; with Canadian astronaut Dave Williams), a guide about space medication. Comply with her on Twitter @howellspace (opens in new tab). Comply with us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or Facebook (opens in new tab).
