Aid is on the best way for 3 astronauts who presently depend upon a leaky spacecraft docked with the Worldwide House Station.
A substitute Russian Soyuz spacecraft, referred to as MS-23, is certain for the International Space Station (ISS) to be the brand new journey dwelling for cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio. Launch occurred flawlessly Thursday (Feb. 23) from the Russia-run Baikonur Cosmodrome at 7:24 p.m. EST (0024 GMT or 3:34 a.m. native time Friday, Feb. 24).
“A nominal ascent into orbit for Soyuz MS-23,” NASA spokesperson Rob Navias stated throughout stay launch commentary. “An ideal journey to orbit for the automobile that may carry dwelling Frank Rubio, Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin later this yr.”
Soyuz MS-23 is scheduled to dock with the ISS on Saturday (Feb. 25) to lastly give the three crew members a totally practical lifeboat for the primary time in two months following a coolant leak on their older Soyuz MS-22. Docking is predicted at 8:01 p.m. EST Feb. 26 (0101 GMT Feb. 27) and can be carried stay right here at House.com, through NASA Television (opens in new tab).
The Soyuz launch and docking happen amid a really busy week for ISS actions, as SpaceX‘s Crew-6 Crew Dragon spacecraft is predicted to launch 4 astronauts for NASA on Monday (Feb. 27) for its personal docking about 24 hours later. Each occasions can be simulcast on House.com from NASA Tv.
Associated: Russia releases 1st images of damage to leaky Soyuz spacecraft (photos)
Troubles for the trio of Expedition 69 crew members started on Dec. 14 after their docked Soyuz, referred to as MS-22, sprung a coolant leak. Whereas the incident posed no rapid risk to the ISS or its actions, Russian federal space company Roscosmos decided a brand new Soyuz was wanted to switch the leaky MS-22. A micrometeoroid influence on the Soyuz has been cited because the leak’s trigger, Roscosmos has stated.
Scheduling that Soyuz launch bumped into fairly a couple of hiccups. At first, Soyuz MS-23 was scheduled to fly a traditional crew substitute mission for the late spring. Roscosmos pushed it as much as Feb. 19 and elected to launch it with out crew, to offer three full seats for the caught Soyuz MS-22 crew. As an alternative of individuals, it’s carrying 945 kilos of provides and a toy teddy bear to function a weightlessness indicator.
There have been choices to carry the crew dwelling within the meantime in case of emergency; two cosmonauts may use the broken MS-22, Roscosmos stated, as two crew members would warmth up the spacecraft to a lesser diploma than three. Rubio, in the meantime, would use an additional seat on the already docked SpaceX Crew-5 spacecraft, becoming a member of 4 different astronauts ought to the necessity to depart the ISS come up.
Associated: Russia to launch replacement Soyuz to space station on Thursday (Feb. 23)
The schedule of launching Soyuz MS-23 was additional difficult after a Progress-82 freighter coolant leak on the advanced on Feb. 11. At first, Roscosmos held the launch of Soyuz MS-23 till March in case the 2 spacecraft had associated leaks. Contemporary footage of Progress after the scheduled undocking on Feb. 17, nonetheless, allowed Roscosmos to push by an accelerated Soyuz launch date of Feb. 23.
The 2 coolant leaks, Roscosmos officers decided, weren’t associated and had been brought on by separate micrometeoroid strikes on every spacecraft. Nonetheless, the schedule shuffle has induced an enormous change to ISS actions: The three Soyuz MS-22/MS-23 crew members will double their time in space to a few yr, to September 2023.
The additional time in space will permit Roscosmos to launch yet one more Soyuz, this time with crew, to function reduction for the trio of Expedition 69 crew members. The crewed Soyuz MS-24 will possible launch in September, in accordance with the SpaceflightNow launch calendar. (opens in new tab)
Elizabeth Howell is the co-author of “Why Am I Taller (opens in new tab)?” (ECW Press, 2022; with Canadian astronaut Dave Williams), a guide about space medication. Observe her on Twitter @howellspace (opens in new tab). Observe us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or Facebook (opens in new tab).
