On December 15th, NASA and its astronauts faced a dire situation. A large coolant leak occurred from the Russian Soyuz spacecraft docked at the International Space Station, just before the spacewalk by a pair of Russian cosmonauts started. Although the crew is safe and in no immediate danger, two astronauts and one of his NASA astronauts were due to return to Earth early next year using the Soyuz spacecraft. . Due to unstable conditions on the spacecraft, NASA and Roscosmos (Russian space agency) are trying to find options to move forward.
To that end, NASA is considering one contingency plan. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon mission will be used to effectively rescue stranded astronauts in the coming months.
“The International Space Station team continues to hold meetings about a leak in the Soyuz MS-22’s external cooling loop,” a NASA spokesperson told the Daily Beast in an email. “NASA and Roscosmos will continue to consider options before making a final decision on how to safely return the crew home. are doing
“Additionally, we’ve asked SpaceX some questions about their ability to bring additional crew members back into the dragon if needed, but that’s not the main focus at this time.”
SpaceX did not respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment.
It’s still unclear what exactly SpaceX’s mission will entail. The Crew Dragon spacecraft (named Endeavor) is already docked at the ISS, and in theory it could add more seats to its mission when it’s scheduled to return to Earth next year. But the task has already been fulfilled by four people. NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Kasada, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Roscosmos astronaut Anna Kikina.
As another option, NASA prioritized the launch of a new SpaceX Crew Dragon to the ISS, specifically the three crew members who were due to return to the Soyuz (NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Prokopiev). , Dimitri Peterin).
The loss of coolant means that the temperature of the current Soyuz capsule is rising rapidly. NASA says the capsule’s temperature remains “within acceptable limits” and is cooled by ventilation through the open hatch to the rest of the ISS. But it’s hard to imagine that capsules could still be used to transport humans to Earth.
The cause of the Soyuz spill remains unknown. Upon investigation, we found a hole on the outside of the radiator. This could have been caused by micrometeorites or debris. orbital debrisA hardware failure may also be the cause. Roscosmos’s growing universe of failures.
