Russia’s Roscosmos space agency announced this Wednesday that it will send the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) on Feb. 20 to deliver three astronauts to Earth — two Russians and one American — after detecting damage. hull of the capsule she carries.
The Soyuz MS-22 capsule experienced a coolant leak in mid-December. The images showed a jet of particles emanating from the back of the structure.
Roscosmos believed that the condition of the equipment was too questionable to recover Russian astronauts Serguei Prokopiev and Dmitri Petelin and American Frank Rubio. So it decided to send another spacecraft, the Soyuz MS-23.
“The state commission has decided to launch the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft on February 20, 2023 without crew and with cargo on its way to the ISS,” Yuri Borisov, director general of the Russian space agency, told Russian media.
Initially, this ship was supposed to launch on March 16 to take another three passengers to the ISS.
The return date for the three crew members, originally set for March 28, has not been announced, but their mission has been “extended,” Roscosmos said.
The damaged capsule will return to Earth without passengers, according to the same source.
The Russian agency does not rule out the possibility of using the spacecraft to transport crew members in case of “a particularly critical situation” on board the ISS, which currently houses seven people.
Apart from this ship, only one rescue vehicle remains, with the capacity to carry four people, if necessary to remove the group.
The damage occurred to the hull of the Soyuz equipment and propulsion segment, which also includes the descent module and work and rest compartment.
On November 25, Prokofiev and Petelin’s spacewalk had to be canceled due to a problem with one of the spacesuits.
In mid-August, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemiev also returned to the ISS early due to problems with his spacesuit during an extravehicular activity.
Source: DN
