Russia has set a new date for when it will send a rescue ship to the International Space Station to retrieve the three astronauts whose Soyuz return craft was compromised in December. The country’s Roscosmos space agency told AFP on Saturday it is targeting a February 24th launch for MS-23, the uncrewed Soyuz spacecraft that is scheduled to bring back cosmonauts Dmitri Petelin and Sergey Prokopyev, as well as NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, from the International Space Station.
Roscosmos delayed the mission last Monday after Progress 82, a supply ship that had been docked with the ISS since last October, began leaking coolant over the weekend. Petelin, Prokopyev and Rubio flew to the space station in September, and they were supposed to return on the same Soyuz spacecraft that brought them there. In December, however, the spacecraft sprung a leak, due to an apparent meteoroid strike. One month later, Roscosmos announced it would send a second Soyuz craft to retrieve the three…
2023-02-18 16:10:28
Original from www.engadget.com
The Russian spaceflight authorities have announced the launch schedule of Soyuz MS-22, which is a crew rescue mission, scheduled to be launched on February 24th. This follows the recent announcement of a possible failure of the second stage engine of Soyuz MS-21, a spacecraft that was carrying two astronauts, on its way to the International Space Station.
The departure of Soyuz MS-22 will include two crew members, and the original mission of Soyuz MS-21, which was supposed to bring three astronauts to the ISS, will resume with the addition of a third crew member. The Soyuz MS-22 will be launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and has been assigned to bring back the two crew members from Soyuz MS-21, safely to earth.
It has been revealed that the two astronauts aboard Soyuz MS-21 have landed safely and have been taken to a hospital near the landing site in Kazakhstan to undergo a check up. The spacecraft’s crew of Oleg Novitsky and Yevgeny Tarelkin have been unharmed throughout the mission.
Despite the mishap affecting the mission of Soyuz MS-21, the Russian space officials have praised the crew’s courageous effort throughout the mission, stating that the duo had done everything right. The officials have also expressed their assurance that Soyuz MS-22 will be a success, as they have demanded to check every single detail of the rocket to guarantee the safety of the two astronauts aboard the spacecraft.
To conclude, the Russian spaceflight authorities have announced the launch date of the Soyuz MS-22 crew rescue mission on February 24th, which is meant to bring back two crew members from the recent Soyuz MS-21 mission. Despite a possible failure of the second stage engine of Soyuz MS-21, the two astronauts have been reported to have landed safely and Russia is committed to taking all necessary steps to ensure the success of the Soyuz MS-22 mission.