Russia’s space agency is considering a “rescue” plan to send an empty spacecraft to the (ISS) to bring home three crew members ahead of schedule
After their Soyuz capsule began leaking, Russia’s space agency said it is considering sending an empty spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) to bring home three crew members ahead of schedule.
Roscosmos and Nasa both stated that it was unknown how the spacecraft’s exterior radiator survived a tiny puncture.
A meteor collision has been ruled out. The leak began as two cosmonauts prepared for a regular spacewalk.
A decision has yet to be made on how the three crew members will be returned to Earth. The most likely solution is to dispatch another Soyuz spacecraft to retrieve them.
A less probable alternative is to bring them home in the leaking capsule without much of the coolant that regulates temperatures inside the spacecraft’s crew compartment.
In September, the vehicle, known as MS-22, transported Russian cosmonauts Dmitry Petelin and Sergey Prokopyev, as well as NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, to the station.
However, it began spraying coolant into space earlier this month, with breathtaking photos of white particles streaming out of the capsule like snowflakes captured by NASA TV.
According to Joel Montalbano, Nasa’s ISS programme manager, the most likely launch date would be late February. The crew was scheduled to return in March.
As per NASA, none of the crew members are at risk.
Mr. Montalbano stated that the capsule is presently being vented, with air flow released via an open hatch to the space station.
The International Space Station (ISS) was launched in 1998 and is about 400 kilometres from Earth.
At the station, cosmonauts conduct tests and research that will aid future space missions.
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