A substitute Soyuz capsule for 3 Worldwide House Station astronauts will dock with the orbiting advanced Saturday (Feb. 25), and you’ll watch it stay.
The substitute Russian Soyuz spacecraft, referred to as MS-23, is anticipated to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) Saturday at 8:01 p.m. EST (0101 GMT Sunday, Feb. 26) and might be carried stay right here at House.com, by way of NASA Television (opens in new tab). The stay webcast will start at 7:15 p.m. EST (2315 GMT). The docked Soyuz will exchange a broken crew spacecraft docked on the ISS, referred to as MS-22.
Ought to MS-23 arrive as anticipated, the Soyuz will function the brand new experience residence for cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin, and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio following a launch on Thursday (Feb. 23) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 7:24 p.m. EST (0024 GMT or 3:34 a.m. native time Friday, Feb. 24).
Coincidentally, NASA is planning launch of its personal quickly with extra ISS crew members: a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft is anticipated to raise off on Monday (Feb. 27) at 1:45 a.m. EST (0645 GMT) with 4 individuals on board. That occasion may also be carried stay right here at House.com, by way of NASA Television (opens in new tab).
Associated: Russia releases 1st images of damage to leaky Soyuz spacecraft (photos)
The trio of Expedition 69 astronauts have been with out a nominal spacecraft since Dec. 14, when their deliberate Soyuz to return residence (MS-22) sprung a coolant leak. Russia has been shifting issues round to get a brand new Soyuz accessible for the crew and has made a number of schedule adjustments this previous week in response to current occasions.
At first, MS-23 was speculated to launch within the spring with individuals on board, however early in 2022 Russian federal space company Roscosmos initially elected to speed up its launch to Feb. 19 with out individuals, to permit for 3 seats for the caught MS-22 crew.
In case of contingency requiring ISS evacuation, Roscosmos decided it might be possible to place the 2 cosmonauts within the MS-22 craft (as two individuals on board warmth up the spacecraft to a lesser diploma than three.) NASA stated they may create an additional seat for Rubio on the SpaceX Crew-5 Dragon spacecraft, which has 4 seats already occupied by different Expedition 69 crew members.
Then one other Russian craft, a Progress 82 freighter, sprung a coolant leak of its own on Feb. 11 and compelled some adjustments in launching MS-23. At first, Roscosmos stated it might delay the launch till March to permit for investigation time.
However the investigation confirmed that the 2 coolant leaks had been unrelated micrometeoroid strikes, which prompted Roscosmos to reschedule MS-23 as soon as once more to launch Feb. 23.
In the meantime, the MS-22/MS-23 crew is anticipated to spend a 12 months in space, double their unique time, to permit for yet one more Soyuz with three individuals on board to function a reduction crew. The crewed Soyuz, MS-24, will probably launch in September, in response to 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 e-book about space medication. Comply with her on Twitter @howellspace (opens in new tab). Comply with us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or Facebook (opens in new tab).
