Russia may send empty Soyuz capsule to ISS for stranded astronauts – IT Pro – News

The Russian space agency Roscosmos, in collaboration with NASA, is examining whether an unmanned Soyuz capsule should be sent to the ISS. Currently, several astronauts are unable to return to Earth due to a leak in another capsule.

Space agencies don’t yet know if it will loss in the current Soyuz MS-22 it’s so bad that astronauts can’t get back to earth safely with it, says Roscosmos CEO Sergei Krikalev at a press conference. If the damaged capsule isn’t really suitable for a return journey, an unmanned Soyuz capsule could be launched from Baikonur in Kazakhstan. A crewed Soyuz capsule is expected to launch in mid-March, but could be brought forward to late February and go to the ISS without a crew.

Krikalev says the damaged Soyuz MS-22 could return to Earth without astronauts in that scenario. There was allegedly “a hole less than a millimeter in diameter” in the radiator system, from which all the coolant had leaked. This may break the temperature control in the capsule, but the automatic and analog flight system should be fine.

It is unclear what caused the leak. At first it was speculated that it was the result of a small meteor shower. Both American and Russian authorities contradict this; the direction of the impact would not correspond to the damage in question. The incident is over captured images. The capsule is docked to the ISS, but poses no threat to the rest of the space station.

Soyuz MS-22 carried Russian cosmonauts Sergei Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin to the ISS in September this year. The American Frank Rubio was also transported to the space station in this way and the intention is that the capsule will eventually also facilitate the return journey. A Space-X capsule has previously carried Americans Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japanese Koichi Wakata and Russian Anna Kikina to the ISS and is also their re-entry vehicle.