The Russian manned capsule ‘Soyuz MS-22’ docked at the International Space Station (ISS) has been officially proposed to launch an empty spacecraft to bring the astronauts who rode it to Earth safely.
According to foreign media on the 22nd, Sergei Krikalev, head of the manned space program of the Russian Federal Space Agency, told a press briefing organized by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration that the Soyuz MS-22 is checking whether it can carry astronauts and return safely. If it is found unsuitable, it will send an empty spacecraft for rescue.
Shortly following the accident, there were reports through the Russian media that early deployment of the Soyuz MS-23 was being reviewed, but it was the first time that a senior official from the Russian Space Corporation directly mentioned this.
A total of seven astronauts are staying at the ISS, including three, including Sergei Prokofiev, who arrived on the Soyuz MS-22 on September 21 last year.
Prokofiev and others were scheduled to return aboard MS-22 following completing their six-month mission to the space station in March next year.
However, on the 14th, a hole was formed in the cooling pipe outside the MS-22 capsule docked in the ‘Rasvet’ module, and the cooling water was almost completely drained, making it impossible to guarantee the safety of the capsule’s flight.
It has been pointed out that the temperature rises rapidly during flight and may threaten the lives of astronauts.
If there is an emergency situation that requires immediate escape from the ISS, Prokofiev and the three astronauts have no safe escape method.
SpaceX’s Crew-5 capsule, which carried four other astronauts, is moored to the space station as a lifeboat.
It has not yet been finalized whether the Russian side will use the empty spacecraft or use the MS-22 as it is, but since the coolant plays an important role in preventing the temperature of the cabin from rising, the possibility of using it without repair is expected to be low. .
NASA ISS program manager Joel Montalbano said that if Russia decides to send in an empty spacecraft for rescue, the astronauts will return two to three weeks earlier than originally planned.
The Russian Federal Space Agency has been preparing the Soyuz MS-23 for a launch in March next year for the originally scheduled cosmonaut mission shift.
There was no mention of using Crew Dragon instead of Soyuz capsules.
Meanwhile, it was initially suggested that the hole in the external cooling tube was a meteoroid, but the recent Gemini meteor shower was suggested to be unrelated given the angle of impact.
Montalbano and Krikalev left open the possibility that they were hit by a defect in the cooling system itself or by other space debris.
YTN Lim Soo-geun (sglim@ytn.co.kr)
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