NASA ponders SpaceX astronaut rescue as backup after Soyuz leak: report

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NASA ponders SpaceX astronaut rescue as backup after Soyuz leak: report

A Soyuz crew that may be stuck on the ISS could have the chance to return home with SpaceX, if required, a report suggests.

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The SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance approaches the International Space Station with four Crew-5 astronauts aboard on Oct. 6, 2022. (Image credit: NASA/Kjell Lindgren)
NASA might use a SpaceX spacecraft to rescue three space station crew members depending on a leaky Soyuz to get home, a report suggests.


The Soyuz spacecraft on the International Space Station suffered a severe coolant leak on Dec. 15 and a decision about whether it is safe to send the crew back to Earth on it will come in January, Russia has said. If a rescue Soyuz craft is needed it could only come in February, two or three weeks before the normal changeover in March.

NASA is apparently considering using SpaceX, the only company currently flying astronauts into space from American soil, as a backup if these options don't work out.

"We have asked SpaceX a few questions on their capability to return additional crew members on Dragon if necessary, but that is not our prime focus at this time," NASA spokesperson Sandra Jones said in a statement to Reuters(opens in new tab), published Wednesday (Dec. 28). SpaceX did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.

NASA did not clarify with Reuters what options with SpaceX might be possible, 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 (called Endeavour) docked at the space station.

All seats on Endeavour are nominally full, as it is supposed to bear home Crew-5 in early 2023, including NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina.

The crew that was using the affected Soyuz, called MS-22, includes Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin, and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, each of whom came to space in a Russian Sokol spacesuit. Normally, SpaceX only launches crew members who have been fitted for a custom-made SpaceX spacesuit. How this issue would be overcome was also not addressed in the report.

The cause of the leak on Soyuz MS-22 has not yet been determined, but it could originate from space debris or a micrometeroid that was unable to be tracked due to the small size. Follow-up scans of the Soyuz showed a hole in its radiator exterior.

The ISS crew is in no immediate danger from the situation, but the concern comes if the complex had to be evacuated for whatever reason, as for the time being, it is possible that three individuals have no safe ride home.

 

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Russia's 'final decision' on leaky Soyuz spacecraft at space station to come in January: reports

The Soyuz is docked to the International Space Station and it's unclear if it can bear its crew back home, following a severe coolant leak earlier in December.

www.space.com

Russia's 'final decision' on leaky Soyuz spacecraft at space station to come in January: reports​

The Soyuz is docked to the International Space Station and it's unclear if it can bear its crew back home, following a severe coolant leak earlier in December.

Russian space officials will make their "final decision" in January about whether to let a leaky Soyuz bear its crew back to Earth, according to state media.


The Russian federal space agenc Roscosmos said it is awaiting the results of a working group investigating the findings of a severe Soyuz spacecraft leak on the International Space Station on Dec. 15 that spewed coolant into space.

Roscosmos will release "possible changes in the station's flight program in January 2023 on the basis of the working groups' findings," state media provider TASS wrote(opens in new tab) on Tuesday (Dec. 27).

Follow-up scans of the Soyuz revealed a hole in its radiator exterior and it is unclear if the spacecraft can bring home two cosmonauts and an astronaut. Since Russia cannot launch a backup craft until February, this may mean the three ISS crew members have no lifeboat in case of emergency. The cause has not yet been determined.

TASS and Roscosmos maintain the cause was likely "a micrometeoroid or space debris." The hole is roughly 0.8 mm in size and an object that caused a hole of that size would not be trackable with current technology, NASA and other space agencies have said.

The space station has been subject to several close calls with space debris lately, including a Russian Fregat rocket stage that swung within less than a mile (0.4 km) on Dec. 21, forcing the ISS to dodge and NASA to delay a spacewalk by a day.

While the ISS crew is in no immediate danger from the leak, they do depend on spacecraft to come home in case of other emergency on the complex. The crew members were supposed to return home in March, but a rescue Soyuz could be ready in February, two or three weeks earlier, if required, Roscosmos has said.

Sending the affected crew members home in a SpaceX Dragon would require a separate launch and a separate set of spacesuits that are usually custom-made for astronauts or cosmonauts ahead of launch.