Roscosmos and NASA Have a Plan to Replace Damaged Soyuz Spacecraft at ISS

f

Roscosmos says it’s going to launch an uncrewed Soyuz to interchange the broken spacecraft at present docked on the International Space Station. The MS-22 Soyuz sprung a coolant leak in December after being struck by a micrometeorite, as each Roscosmos and NASA are actually claiming.

The plan is to launch the substitute MS-23 Soyuz spacecraft on or round February 20, which is a number of weeks sooner than the unique launch date for the mission. The uncrewed MS-23 will probably be a welcome sight for NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin, who’re at present with out a dependable trip again residence.

Their MS-22, docked outdoors and that includes an unpleasant 0.8-millimeter-wide gap in its radiator, was deemed by Roscosmos to be unsafe for a crewed trip again to Earth, as Sergei Krikalev, govt director of human area flight on the Russian area company, instructed reporters earlier at present. The MS-22, with out anybody on board, will ultimately be despatched residence for a touchdown in Kazakhstan, however not till the MS-23 arrives on the orbital outpost, Krikalev mentioned.

The leak occurred on the night of December 14, with floor controllers noticing a sudden and surprising drop in stress readings tied to the cooling loop. With coolant visibly pouring out from the Soyuz, mission managers had little selection however to cancel a scheduled Russian spacewalk. Inspections carried out by the Canadarm2 robotic arm on December 18 confirmed the presence of a tiny gap, the reason for which is now being attributed to a micrometeoroid, versus a wayward chunk of area junk.

A (handy) micrometeoroid

During at present’s briefing, Joel Montalbano, International Space Station program supervisor at NASA, mentioned NASA is in “concurrence” with Roscosmos on the matter of the outlet being attributable to a micrometeoroid. The evaluation was based mostly on imagery and excessive velocity testing carried out by Roscosmos, Montalbano mentioned. Krikalev chimed in, saying particles is an unlikely perpetrator as a result of the thing’s presumed velocity of 4.4 miles per second (7 kilometers per second) doesn’t observe with the velocity and orbit of the ISS, and that an object transferring at this velocity wouldn’t keep on the very same orbit because the area station. This is “why we think it’s from a micrometeoroid that came in from a random direction,” Krikalev mentioned.

Several reporters requested each Krikalev and Montalbano to make clear this seemingly obscure rationalization, however the duo, collectively in Moscow for the briefing, caught to their script. That the outlet was attributable to a tiny meteorite is completely believable, however Russia’s check of an anti-satellite weapon in November 2021, during which a defunct satellite tv for pc was intentionally destroyed, created 1000’s of latest items of orbital particles, a lot of which proceed to threaten the area station. Roscosmos was fast in charge a micrometeoroid for the radiator puncture, probably out of comfort. Fair to say, we’d all like additional clarification on this matter, even when the ultimate verdict affirms a pure supply for the coolant leak.

MS-22: Down however not completely out

MS-23 received’t arrive on the ISS till February 20 on the earliest, which suggests Rubio, Prokopyev, and Petelin are considerably within the lurch till then. Should the ISS should be evacuated within the occasion of an excessive emergency, the trio would haven’t any selection however to danger a journey within the broken MS-22.

Roscosmos dominated out the MS-22 for not having the ability to present the “nominal” circumstances for a trip again to Earth, as Krikalev mentioned, however that doesn’t imply it couldn’t carry out the duty within the occasion of an emergency. Temperatures contained in the cabin would seemingly rise to someplace between 100 and 108 levels Fahrenheit (excessive 30s to low 40s Celsius), which is tolerable, Krikalev defined. The downside, he mentioned, can be the mixture of this warmth and the anticipated humidity. “We expect some overheating of equipment,” he mentioned, sufficient to probably knock out the capsule’s laptop. The Soyuz has “several layers of redundancy,” and if the pc fails, it ought to be capable of proceed in analog mode, he mentioned. Regardless, this situation is way from optimum, therefore the plan to ship a substitute car. Returning the MS-22 to Earth with out a crew on board is “our primary scenario,” Krikalev mentioned.

Don’t name it a rescue

Despite the present danger confronted by the three crew members, Montalbano mentioned he’s not referring to the MS-23 as a “rescue” Soyuz car. He mentioned there’s no instant want for the crew to come back residence, so “I’m calling it a replacement Soyuz.” Naturally, Krikalev agreed. That’d be laughable, if it weren’t such a critical difficulty. In my thoughts, MS-23 is strictly that—a rescue car, provided that the trio, who reached the ISS aboard MS-22 on September 21, 2022, are with out a dependable car in the meanwhile. An excessive emergency from now till the arrival of MS-23 is exceptionally unlikely however not inconceivable.

That mentioned, NASA has been involved with SpaceX to debate alternate methods. A Crew Dragon is at present parked outdoors, however it’s reserved for NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Anna Kikina of Roscosmos. Interestingly, and as Montalbano instructed reporters, it could be potential for the Crew Dragon to accommodate one additional passenger within the occasion of an emergency, however that might require some particular configurations and the elimination of some {hardware}.

A key constraint, mentioned Montalbano, has to do with the respective area fits, as fits are particularly tailor-made for particular person spacecraft. This is why mission planners dominated out the launch of a rescue Crew Dragon. As he instructed reporters, “the quickest way to get to a safe configuration is to get the replacement Soyuz up there.” Looking past this mission, Montalbano mentioned NASA is contemplating a launch-on-need situation and is working with each SpaceX and Boeing to presumably make this occur. Indeed, that might be perfect—the capability to launch rescue missions on a second’s discover.

As for repairing the outlet within the radiator, Krikalev mentioned it was thought of however dominated out. Repairs should not potential, he mentioned, as the outlet is in a “very inconvenient place”—an space with out handrails or assist constructions to permit spacewalking crew members to entry and work within the space. The required process to repair the outlet was deemed to be onerous (requiring the usage of sealants, for instance) and harmful; it’s far much less dangerous to easily substitute the broken car, Krikalev mentioned.

Moving missions to the correct

The new plan does current some issues for the schedule makers. MS-23 was alleged to ship new crew members to the ISS, specifically NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara and cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Oleg Kononenko. They will now presumably have to attend till the MS-24 mission scheduled for later this 12 months. Krikalev mentioned “we are moving missions to the right” and never canceling something, as mission planners work to get again to the unique schedule.

As to when Rubio, Prokopyev, and Petelin will return residence, that has not but been determined. They had been alleged to return residence in mid-March, however with the substitute MS-23 mission now deliberate, their keep aboard the ISS might be prolonged by an “extra several months,” Krikalev mentioned. Mission planners have but to decide on the matter, however Krikalev mentioned the crew is in good well being and that they need to be capable of keep on the ISS for a chronic mission.

Stints aboard the ISS usually final for six months, so it’s completely potential that the trio will keep on the station for a complete 12 months. The MS-22 crew is “prepared to stay for a September launch date or leave earlier if required,” Montalbano mentioned. “They’re ready to go with whatever decision we give them.”