Russia sets new contingency plan for crew of damaged space capsule - KSL.com

A watercourse of particles, which NASA says appears to beryllium liquid and perchance coolant, sprays retired of the Soyuz spacecraft connected the International Space Station, forcing a hold of a regular planned spacewalk by 2 Russian cosmonauts Dec. 14, 2022. (NASA TV)

Estimated work time: 2-3 minutes

MOSCOW — Russia's abstraction bureau Roscosmos announced caller contingency plans connected Saturday for the 3 unit of a damaged capsule docked to the International Space Station, saying the U.S. subordinate of the trio would instrumentality to Earth successful a abstracted SpaceX vas if they needed to evacuate successful the adjacent fewer weeks.

The Soyuz MS-22 capsule, which serves arsenic a lifeboat for the crew, sprang a coolant leak past period aft it was struck by a micrometeoroid — a tiny particle of abstraction stone — which made a tiny puncture and caused the somesthesia wrong to rise.

Roscosmos and NASA said this week that a caller spacecraft, Soyuz MS-23, would beryllium launched adjacent period to bring backmost cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin and U.S. astronaut Frank Rubio. But it volition not dock with the ISS until Feb. 22.

Given determination could beryllium an earlier emergency, Rubio's spot was being moved from the MS-22 to a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, besides docked to the ISS, Roscosmos said connected Saturday.

"If an exigency evacuation is necessary, Francisco Rubio volition instrumentality to Earth connected it (the Crew Dragon), and the Roscosmos cosmonauts (will return) connected the Soyuz MS-22, it said.

"The descent of 2 cosmonauts alternatively of 3 volition beryllium safer, arsenic it volition assistance trim the somesthesia and humidity successful the Soyuz MS-22."

The ngo was owed to extremity successful March, but the program present is to widen it by respective months and bring the 3 men location connected the MS-23. The second had been owed to instrumentality up 3 caller unit successful March, but alternatively volition beryllium launched bare adjacent period to dock with the ISS.

Four different unit members are presently connected the orbital presumption — 2 much from NASA, a 3rd Russian and a Japanese astronaut, who each arrived successful October connected the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.

Relations betwixt Russia and the United States person been poisoned by Moscow's penetration of Ukraine but the 2 countries proceed to enactment intimately unneurotic connected the ISS, an orbital laboratory abut 250 miles supra the Earth that has been continuously occupied for 2 decades.

Russia has said, however, it plans to discontinue the ageing task aft 2024 and motorboat its ain station.

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