NASA TV
Four weeks ago, as two Russian cosmonauts were preparing for a spacewalk, a Soyuz spacecraft attached to the International Space Station began leaking out of control.
The spacewalk was canceled, and since then Russian and U.S. spaceflight engineers have analyzed the cause of the leak and its implications for future trips to and from a large laboratory in low-Earth orbit. I was. They now speculate that a small piece of micrometeorite or orbital debris hit the Soyuz spacecraft’s external cooling loop, releasing all of its coolant into space, and set up a recovery plan.
There was no immediate threat to the seven astronauts on board the space station, but the key question was how did the three people on board this Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft get into orbit? . Frank Rubio—I’m going home after that.
Well, we finally have an answer. On Wednesday, officials at NASA and Russia’s state-owned space company Roscosmos said a replacement Soyuz spacecraft will launch to the station next month and dock autonomously. A crew member who was supposed to be flying on the damaged Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft will instead return home on this Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft in late 2023. march.
Sergei Krikalev, executive director of manned spaceflight at Roscosmos, said in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday that he believes the cooling system was damaged by an object about 1 mm in diameter. This assessment is based on high-resolution images of the damage site and ground tests to reproduce the problem. I can’t tell if this is a small meteor fragment or if he’s one of the myriad pieces of space junk circling low Earth orbit.
Russian officials believe the Soyuz MS-22 can fly in an emergency. But without an efficient way to radiate heat during her six-hour return to Earth, the spacecraft’s interior could overheat. This could damage Flight Her’s computer used to set an accurate return trajectory and endanger the crew. Krikalev said temperatures inside Soyuz MS-22 could reach 40 degrees Celsius (105 to 110 degrees F) during its return to Earth. Crew health concerns are as much about humidity as temperature in a scenario like this.
Between now and the arrival of Soyuz MS-23 in February, Russian and NASA officials are reviewing contingency plans in the event of an emergency on the space station. In the event of such an eventuality, one or more of her members of the MS-22 crew would find Safe Her Harbor and return to Earth within her Crew-5 Dragon, now attached to the space station. Might go back. The vehicle nominally carries four astronauts, but it can carry more people home.
Joel Montalbano, NASA’s International Space Station Program Manager, said: “But all This is only used in emergencies and only if the ISS must be evacuated. We are always thinking about what we can do to ensure the safety of our crew. Nominally, when Crew 5 returns, it will return with four people. “
The Soyuz MS-22 crew launched to the space station in September. They were due to return to Earth in March before a dramatic coolant leak occurred. Krikalev said their mission will be extended for “several” months. The three astronauts, including NASA’s Frank Rubio, may not return to Earth until September 2023, when Soyuz MS-24 is ready to orbit the next Russian crew rotation. , which was due to launch this spring, could mean that the crew, Russians Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, and NASA’s Loral O’Hara will wait until this fall to fly the mission.
“The great thing about our crew is that they are willing to help us with anything we ask,” Montalbano said. The crew is thrilled to be in space.”
Since the coolant leak, Russian and U.S. engineers and managers have worked smoothly together, Montalbano said. Considering what has happened since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it’s worth noting that NASA and Roscosmos still work very well together on ISS operations. This portends that the space station partnership will continue to operate for the remainder of the 2020s, even with hostilities on Earth.
