Rescue of several cosmonauts: the Russian Space Agency sends a rocket into space. She has to go to a spaceship with a hole after being hit by a meteor.
Because of a leak in Russia’s Soyuz capsule, three astronauts are expected to return to Earth from the International Space Station later than planned. Cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petlin, as well as NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, are scheduled to return in the Soyuz MS-23 instead of the Soyuz MS-22 capsule that docked at the International Space Station last September. Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, on Telegram on Wednesday. Exactly when will not be known at first. The return trip for the Russian and the American was originally scheduled for March.
This is how a rescue is supposed to work
First, the Soyuz MS-22 must fly to Earth without a pilot, said Roskosmos. Then, on February 20, Soyuz MS-23 should be sent from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station – also without a crew on board on the way there. Roscosmos later said that the stay of the three cosmonauts could be extended by several months.
NASA wanted to comment on the leak and new plans during the day.
The leak on the Soyuz MS-22 capsule occurred last December. Russian space experts suspected that the cause could be a micrometeor impact. Borisov said that assumption has now been confirmed. The outer layer and the refrigeration unit are damaged. Because of the glitch, a spaceflight planned by Prokopgo and Betlin at the time had to be cancelled. However, Roskosmos and NASA confirmed that they see no danger to the operation of the ISS.
