Stranded ISS crew (kind of)
A number of media sources are reporting this week on an upcoming launch by Russia’s space company – on Friday, February 24, 2023 – to offer a trip residence for 2 cosmonauts and one U.S. astronaut at the moment aboard the Worldwide Area Station (ISS).
The space vacationers – Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin, and U.S. astronaut Frank Rubio – are aboard ISS with out a designated ship to get residence. That’s as a result of the ship that carried them to ISS sprang a very visible coolant leak in its radiator cooling loop – apparently from a micrometeoroid collision – in December.
The Russian crew capsule Soyuz MS-22 had delivered the three new crew members to ISS on September 21, 2022. Whereas docked on the ISS, video confirmed the Soyuz was spraying a “snowstorm” of particles in December. Seems the leak was the explanation.
The crew’s mission was supposed to finish in March. Then the choice was made to go away the crew in place inside ISS till September. Nonetheless, in case ISS must be evacuated, they want a functioning ship for the trip residence.
This Friday’s ‘rescue’ mission
Roscosmos has been planning to ship up one other uncrewed ship to the ISS for the stranded crew to finally return residence in. The date of that launch turned official on Monday, when the Russian state information company TASS reported that the State Fee formally granted a allow for launch on Friday, February 24, 2023.
The three ‘stranded’ astronauts – a part of the seven-member Expedition 68 crew – had been initially purported to return to Earth in March 2023. The brand new plan has them extending their keep till September 2023.
Area.com reported that the explanation they’re extending their keep in orbit an additional six months is as a result of the:
subsequent Soyuz [the Soyuz launching Friday] will keep docked on the ISS till its successor — a car that can carry crew — is able to go.
Launch of the Soyuz MS-23 from Russia might be at 3:24:27 a.m. Moscow time on Friday, February 24. That interprets to 00:24:27 UTC on February 24, or 6:24 p.m. CST on February 23.
The Soyuz MS-23 launch was initially scheduled for February 20, however confronted a delay resulting from a second leaky spacecraft.
A 2nd leak, in a 2nd craft
In February, Roscosmos detected a second spacecraft docked on the ISS was additionally leaking. This second spacecraft is a provide ship named Progress 82 and generally known as Progress MS-21 to the Russians. The provision ship launched again on October 28, 2022, and reached the ISS with out incident and docked efficiently.
After discovering the leak on February 11, engineers undocked Progress 82 from the ISS on February 18. They took pictures to examine the craft. Then, loaded with trash, Progress 82 fired its engine to de-orbit. Lower than an hour later, it impacted within the Southern Pacific Ocean. (This space has the nickname because the spacecraft cemetery, as a result of it’s an uninhabited space focused for re-entry of spacecraft similar to the previous Mir space station.)
Roscosmos believes the sources of each leaks are tiny bits of rock and different materials in space (micrometeoroids). On February 21, Anatoly Zak at RussianSpaceWeb.com reported that Roscosmos stated:
Based mostly on the preliminary evaluation of the state of affairs with Progress MS-21 at RKK Energia, the cargo ship had skilled an exterior influence … This conclusion was made primarily based the pictures which revealed adjustments on the outside of the car … the holes found (on the pictures after undocking) had not been seen both through the manufacturing of the Progress MS-21 on the manufacturing facility, nor throughout its preparation for launch, nor throughout its flight and docking with the ISS.
“Exterior influence” blamed for coolant loss (…once more, this time on the Progress MS-21 cargo ship).
DETAILS: https://t.co/QA5zHmYE03 pic.twitter.com/h7GWfWPJuJ— Anatoly Zak (@RussianSpaceWeb) February 21, 2023
Regardless of two latest leaks resulting from attainable micrometeoroid strikes, all sources agree that the chance of one other influence to the soon-to-launch Soyuz MS-23 is low.
Backside line: The Russians will launch an empty space capsule to the space station on Friday for the stranded ISS crew to finally trip residence in.
