The capsule –Spuskaemi Apparat (SA)— of the Soyuz MS-22 (11F732 #751) landed without a crew on March 28, 2023 at 11:45:58 UTC 147 kilometers southeast of the city of Zhezkazgan (Kazakhstan). It is the second Soyuz to take off with a crew and return without cosmonauts after Soyuz 32 in June 1979. Soyuz MS-22 was launched on September 21, 2022 with two Roscosmos cosmonauts, Sergei Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin, and one astronaut. from NASA, Francisco Rubio. However, on December 15, the ship suffered a coolant leak from the propulsion module (PAO) that is part of the temperature control system (SOTR). As a result, Roscosmos made the decision to send the Soyuz MS-23 (11F732A48 No. 754) as an uncrewed “rescue ship” to replace the disabled MS-22, since without a functioning temperature control system, it would not he could ensure that the temperatures in the capsule did not exceed the limits of human endurance.
On February 11, the Progress MS-21 cargo ship also suffered a similar refrigerant leak, which forced the postponement of the Soyuz MS-23 launch and has cast doubt on the true cause of both incidents, which Roscosmos blames on two separate incidents. micrometeor impacts or pieces of space junk. Progress MS-21 separated from the ISS on February 18 at 2:26 UTC and re-entered Earth’s atmosphere the next day after firing its main engine at 16:15 UTC. During the day that it was in separate orbit from the ISS, Progress carried out tests to verify the operation of its SOTR system, apparently positive despite the refrigerant leak (naturally, it was an unmanned cargo ship).
These tests served to confirm Roscosmos’s decision to bring in the unmanned Soyuz MS-22. On the one hand, the ship was capable of returning with the SOTR system damaged, but the temperatures inside the capsule with the three cosmonauts could exceed 50ºC before the separation of the three modules of the ship for reentry. in the Earth’s atmosphere (once separated, the capsule has its own water cooling system independent of the PAO to ensure safe reentry). With the Soyuz MS-23 docked to the space station, Roscosmos went ahead with its plan. Finally, today March 28 at 09:57:27 UTC the spacecraft separated from the Rassviet module of the Russian segment of the ISS. The braking ignition took place at 10:51 UTC and at 11:19 the three modules (BO, SA and PAO) separated. Atmospheric reentry began at 11:22 UTC and the main parachute opened at 11:30 UTC, a quarter of an hour before landing.
On board the Soyuz MS-22 were 218 kg of cargo, including results of various experiments (for example, OMIKi-SPK, Neyroimmunitet, Biomag-M, Biodegradatsia, Probiovit, Fotobioreaktor, Struktura, Dispersia, Separatsia, Profilaktika-2, Pilot -T, Uragán, MSK-2, Kaskad, Faguen, Kontur-2, Proboy, etc.). It also carried equipment used at the station for analysis and possible repair, such as cameras, lamps, batteries, reserve valves from the Orlán-MKS diving suits, among others. The members of Expedition 69 are still on the International Space Station: three members of Roscosmos (Sergei Prokopiev, Dmitri Petelin, Andrei Fedyaiev), three from NASA (Francisco Rubio, Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg), as well as the Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi. . On April 6, the Soyuz MS-23 will move from the Poisk module to the Prichal module (coupled to the Nauka). As for this year’s Progress cargo ships, the Progress MS-23 will take off on May 24 and the Progress MS-24 on August 23. For its part, the Soyuz MS-24 will take off on September 15 —with the crew originally planned for the Soyuz MS-23— and the Soyuz MS-23 will return with the Soyuz MS-22 crew on September 27 after spending more one year on the ISS. A new record, even if unintentionally.
Video of the return of the Soyuz MS-22
???? Roscosmos pic.twitter.com/aZzXT8iggX– Daniel Marin (@Eurekablog) March 28, 2023