As of 03/28/2023 4:02 PM
The Russian Soyuz MS-22 was commissioned to the International Space Station in September and the crew should also be brought back. Then it got damaged. It has now landed on Earth – but without the astronauts.
The Russian Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft has returned safely to Earth. The Russian Space Agency said that the unmanned capsule landed on Tuesday afternoon (local time) 147 km southeast of the city of Chiskasjan in the plains of Kazakhstan.
Soyuz MS-22 was launched in September with Russians Dmitry Petlin and Sergei Prokopgo and American Frank Rubio to the International Space Station ISS and was supposed to return them to Earth in March. However, in December, a leak was discovered through which coolant had leaked. According to Russian information, a small meteorite damaged the cooling system.
The alternate spaceship arrives to retrieve it
Given the risk of overheating for the spacecraft’s crew and the potential for damage to computers and hardware without cooling, officials decided to send a replacement spacecraft in February.
This started without a crew, has now arrived and is now scheduled to return Petelin, Prokopjev and Rubio to Earth in September. Americans Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburgh, Russian Andrei Fadjagio and Sultan Alnajadi from the United Arab Emirates are also on the ISS.
Cooperation on the International Space Station is one of the few remaining areas where the United States and Russia are still cooperating, even after Russia’s attack on Ukraine began more than a year ago.
An unmanned Soyuz MS-22 landed in Kazakhstan
Frank Eichmann, ARD Moscow, Mar 28, 2023 4:42 p.m
