NASA mulls SpaceX backup plan for crew of Russia's leaky Soyuz ship - CNBC

NASA is exploring whether SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft tin perchance connection an alternate thrust location for immoderate unit members of the International Space Station aft a Russian capsule sprang a coolant leak portion docked to the orbital lab.

NASA and Russia's abstraction agency, Roscosmos, are investigating the origin of a punctured coolant enactment connected an outer radiator of Russia's Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft, which is expected to instrumentality its unit of 2 cosmonauts and 1 U.S. astronaut to Earth aboriginal adjacent year.

But the Dec. 14 leak, which emptied the Soyuz of a captious fluid utilized to modulate unit compartment temperatures, has derailed Russia's abstraction presumption routines, with engineers successful Moscow examining whether to motorboat different Soyuz to retrieve the three-man squad that flew to ISS aboard the crippled MS-22 craft.

If Russia cannot motorboat different Soyuz ship, oregon decides for immoderate crushed that doing truthful would beryllium excessively risky, NASA is weighing different option.

"We person asked SpaceX a fewer questions connected their capableness to instrumentality further unit members connected Dragon if necessary, but that is not our premier absorption astatine this time," NASA spokeswoman Sandra Jones said successful a connection to Reuters.

SpaceX did not respond to a Reuters petition for comment.

It was unclear what NASA specifically asked of SpaceX's Crew Dragon capabilities, specified arsenic whether the institution tin find a mode to summation the unit capableness of the Dragon presently docked to the station, oregon motorboat an bare capsule for the crew's rescue.

But the company's imaginable engagement successful a ngo led by Russia underscores the grade of precaution NASA is taking to guarantee its astronauts tin safely instrumentality to Earth, should 1 of the different contingency plans arranged by Russia autumn through.

The leaky Soyuz capsule ferried U.S. astronaut Frank Rubio and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dimitri Petelin to the abstraction presumption successful September for a six-month mission. They were scheduled to instrumentality to Earth successful March 2023.

The station's 4 different unit members — 2 much from NASA, a 3rd Russian cosmonaut and a Japanese astronaut — arrived successful October via a NASA-contracted SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, which besides remains parked astatine the ISS.

SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule, a gumdrop-shaped pod with 4 astronaut seats, has go the centerpiece to NASA's quality spaceflight efforts successful low-Earth orbit. Besides Russia's Soyuz program, it is the lone entity susceptible of ferrying humans to the abstraction presumption and back.

Finding what caused the leak could origin into decisions astir the champion mode to instrumentality the unit members. A meteroid-caused puncture, a onslaught from a portion of abstraction debris oregon a hardware nonaccomplishment connected the Soyuz capsule itself are 3 imaginable causes of the leak that NASA and Roscosmos are investigating.

A hardware malfunction could rise further questions for Roscosmos astir the integrity of different Soyuz vehicles, specified arsenic the 1 it mightiness nonstop for the crew's rescue, said Mike Suffredini, who led NASA's ISS programme for a decennary until 2015.

"I tin guarantee you that's thing they're looking at, to spot what's backmost determination and whether there's a interest for it," helium said. "The happening astir the Russians is they're truly bully astatine not talking astir what they're doing, but they're precise thorough."

Roscosmos main Yuri Borisov had antecedently said engineers would determine by Tuesday however to instrumentality the unit to Earth, but the bureau said that time it would marque the determination successful January.

NASA has antecedently said the capsule's temperatures stay "within acceptable limits," with its unit compartment presently being vented with aerial travel allowed done an unfastened hatch to the ISS.

Sergei Krikalev, Russia's main of crewed abstraction programs, told reporters past week that the somesthesia would emergence rapidly if the hatch to the presumption were closed.

NASA and Roscosmos are chiefly focusing connected determining the leak's cause, Jones said, arsenic good arsenic the wellness of MS-22 which is besides meant to service arsenic the three-man crew's lifeboat successful lawsuit an exigency connected the presumption requires evacuation.

A caller meteor ablution initially seemed to rise the likelihood of a micrometeoroid onslaught arsenic the culprit, but the leak was facing the incorrect mode for that to beryllium the case, NASA's ISS programme manager Joel Montalbano told reporters past week, though a abstraction stone could person travel from different direction.

And if a portion of abstraction debris is to blame, it could substance concerns of an progressively messy orbital situation and rise questions astir whether specified captious instrumentality arsenic the spacecraft's coolant enactment should person been protected by debris shielding, arsenic different parts of the MS-22 spacecraft are.

"We are not shielded against everything passim the abstraction station," Suffredini said. "We can't shield against everything."