NASA considers SpaceX astronaut rescue as backup after Soyuz leak
NASA could use a SpaceX spacecraft to rescue three space station crew members from a leaky Soyuz to get home, a report suggests.
The Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station suffered a serious coolant leak on December 15 and a decision will come about whether it is safe to send the crew back to Earth in January, said Russia. If a rescue Soyuz craft is needed, it just might arrive in Februarytwo or three weeks before the normal March changeover.
NASA is apparently considering using it SpaceXthe only company currently flying astronauts into space from US soil, as a backup if those options don’t work out.
“We have asked SpaceX some questions about their ability to return additional crew members to Dragon if needed, but that is not our primary focus at this time,” NASA spokeswoman Sandra Jones said. he said in a statement to Reuters (opens in a new tab), published on Wednesday (December 28). SpaceX did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Related: Hole in leaky Soyuz spacecraft not caused by Geminid meteor
NASA did not clarify with Reuters what options might be possible with SpaceX, such as whether the company could launch a backup crew. dragon spacecraft to pick up the crew, or add more seats to the existing Dragon (named Endeavour) docked at the space station.
All of Endeavour’s seats are nominally full as it is expected to bring Crew-5 home in early 2023, including NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina.
The crew using the stricken Soyuz, called MS-22, includes Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin, and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, each of whom arrived in space in a Russian Sokol space suit. Normally, SpaceX only launches crew members who have been equipped to custom made SpaceX space suit. The report also did not address how this problem would be solved.
Related: How SpaceX’s Stylish Space Suit Changes Astronaut Fashion in the Space Shuttle Era
The cause of the leak in Soyuz MS-22 has not yet been determined, but it could originate from space debris or a micrometroid that could not be tracked due to its small size. Follow-up scans of the Soyuz showed a hole on the outside of the radiator.
The ISS crew is in no immediate danger from the situation, but the concern comes if the complex were to be evacuated for any reason, as three people may not have a safe ride home for now.
Elizabeth Howell is the co-author of “Why am I taller? (opens in a new tab)?” (ECW Press, 2022; with Canadian astronaut Dave Williams), a book about space medicine. Follow her on Twitter @howellspace (opens in a new tab). follow us on twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in a new tab) or Facebook (opens in a new tab).
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