NASA Mulls Using SpaceX to Rescue Astronauts After Russia's Space Station Leak - The Daily Beast

On Dec. 15, NASA and its astronauts faced a scary concern erstwhile a Russian Soyuz spacecraft docked to the International Space Station sprung a monolithic coolant leak, soon earlier a spacewalk was acceptable to commence by a brace of Russian cosmonauts. The unit connected committee is harmless and not successful immoderate contiguous danger, but 2 cosmonauts and 1 NASA astronaut were expected to usage the Soyuz conveyance to instrumentality backmost to Earth aboriginal adjacent year. With the spacecraft’s presumption successful limbo, NASA and Roscosmos (Russia’s abstraction agency) person been trying to fig retired their options for however to determination forward.

To that end, NASA is pondering 1 contingency plan: utilizing a SpaceX Crew Dragon ngo to efficaciously rescue the stranded astronauts successful the coming months.

“International Space Station teams proceed to conscionable astir the Soyuz MS-22’s outer cooling loop leak,” a NASA spokesperson told The Daily Beast successful an emailed statement. “NASA and Roscosmos volition proceed to reappraisal options unneurotic earlier making a last determination connected however to safely bring the unit home. The Expedition 68 unit remains successful bully condition, performing attraction and probe activities.

“Additionally, we person asked SpaceX a fewer questions connected their capableness to instrumentality further unit members connected Dragon if indispensable but that is not our premier absorption astatine this time.”

SpaceX did not reply The Daily Beast’s requests for comment.

It’s unclear yet precisely what a SpaceX ngo would entail. A Crew Dragon spacecraft (named Endeavor) is already docked to the ISS, and theoretically much seats could beryllium added to that ngo erstwhile it is expected to travel backmost to Earth adjacent year. But that ngo is already filled up with 4 people: NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina.

Another enactment would beryllium for NASA to prioritize a caller SpaceX Crew Dragon motorboat to the ISS specifically to prime up the 3 unit members who were expected to travel backmost connected Soyuz: NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dimitri Petelin.

The nonaccomplishment of coolant means the existent Soyuz capsule is seeing immense spikes successful temperature. NASA has said the capsule’s temperatures stay “within acceptable limits,” and is being cooled with vented aerial travel allowed from an unfastened hatch to the remainder of the ISS. But it seems astir intolerable to ideate the capsule could inactive beryllium utilized to ferry humans backmost to Earth.

The origin of the Soyuz leak remains unknown. An probe recovered a spread successful the radiator exterior, which whitethorn person been caused by a micrometeoroid oregon tiny portion of orbital debris. A hardware nonaccomplishment whitethorn besides beryllium to blame—which would lone adhd much scrutiny to Roscosmos’s expanding abstraction screwups.