NYT SCIENCE: Russia to Launch Space Station Rescue Mission to Bring Astronauts Home
By Kenneth Chang
Section: Science
Source: New York Times
Published Date: January 11, 2023 at 02:00AM
“This is the next Soyuz that was scheduled to fly in March,” said Joel Montalbano, the space station program manager at NASA, during a news conference on Wednesday. “It’ll just fly a little earlier.”
The need for a new Soyuz arose after the one docked at the space station started spewing a spray of white particles on Dec. 14. The particles turned out to be coolant from the spacecraft, raising questions about whether part of the capsule could overheat during flight, rendering the craft unsafe to transport astronauts back to Earth.
Image
A still image taken from a NASA video feed showed a spray of coolant emitting from the Soyuz spacecraft.Credit...NASA TV, via Reuters
The Soyuz is the only model of spacecraft Russia is using to transport astronauts to and from the I.S.S. The damaged vessel had arrived there in September, taking Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitriy Petelin of Russia and Frank Rubio of NASA to the space station. They had been scheduled to return to Earth in March, but the astronauts will now remain in orbit for several more months.
The next Soyuz, which would have carried three astronauts — two from Roscosmos, the state corporation that oversees Russia’s space industry, and one from NASA — will now launch with its seats empty on Feb. 20. After it reaches the space station, the damaged Soyuz will make a passengerless return to Earth, probably sometime in March. It is set to land at the usual return site in Kazakhstan, carrying some experiments and cargo.
After the leak occurred, astronauts used a camera at the end of a robotic arm on the space station to inspect the leak as engineers on the ground studied the damaged area.
Analysis indicated that with astronauts aboard, temperatures could rise to 100 degrees or hotter with high humidity within the confined space of the compromised Soyuz. That would not only pose dangers to the crew but could cause equipment like the Soyuz’s computer to malfunction.
Until the replacement Soyuz arrives, there is a higher level of risk in case of an emergency — like a large leak that might require an evacuation. The Soyuz and a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule serve as emergency lifeboats for the seven astronauts currently on the station. But officials were measured about the risks.
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By Kenneth Chang
Section: Science
Source: New York Times
Published Date: January 11, 2023 at 02:00AM
The capsule that carried three astronauts to orbit was damaged in December and will be replaced by another Soyuz spacecraft.
The Russian space agency said on Wednesday that it would send an empty Soyuz capsule to the International Space Station in February to replace a damaged spacecraft currently docked there.“This is the next Soyuz that was scheduled to fly in March,” said Joel Montalbano, the space station program manager at NASA, during a news conference on Wednesday. “It’ll just fly a little earlier.”
The need for a new Soyuz arose after the one docked at the space station started spewing a spray of white particles on Dec. 14. The particles turned out to be coolant from the spacecraft, raising questions about whether part of the capsule could overheat during flight, rendering the craft unsafe to transport astronauts back to Earth.
Image
A still image taken from a NASA video feed showed a spray of coolant emitting from the Soyuz spacecraft.Credit...NASA TV, via Reuters
The Soyuz is the only model of spacecraft Russia is using to transport astronauts to and from the I.S.S. The damaged vessel had arrived there in September, taking Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitriy Petelin of Russia and Frank Rubio of NASA to the space station. They had been scheduled to return to Earth in March, but the astronauts will now remain in orbit for several more months.
The next Soyuz, which would have carried three astronauts — two from Roscosmos, the state corporation that oversees Russia’s space industry, and one from NASA — will now launch with its seats empty on Feb. 20. After it reaches the space station, the damaged Soyuz will make a passengerless return to Earth, probably sometime in March. It is set to land at the usual return site in Kazakhstan, carrying some experiments and cargo.
After the leak occurred, astronauts used a camera at the end of a robotic arm on the space station to inspect the leak as engineers on the ground studied the damaged area.
Analysis indicated that with astronauts aboard, temperatures could rise to 100 degrees or hotter with high humidity within the confined space of the compromised Soyuz. That would not only pose dangers to the crew but could cause equipment like the Soyuz’s computer to malfunction.
Until the replacement Soyuz arrives, there is a higher level of risk in case of an emergency — like a large leak that might require an evacuation. The Soyuz and a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule serve as emergency lifeboats for the seven astronauts currently on the station. But officials were measured about the risks.
Read More at: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/11/science/nasa-space-station-soyuz.html
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