NASA may turn to its commercial partner SpaceX to return three astronauts to Earth after the Russian Soyuz space shuttle suffered a coolant leak in mid-December.
In a blog post published on Friday, NASA he said That “extends to SpaceX the ability of its Dragon crew members to return further in the event of an accident.” At the moment, NASA is investigating whether or not the Soyuz spacecraft could still carry astronauts back on their way from the International Space Station, the space agency added.
The Soyuz spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin to the ISS in September 2022. was transported to space on December 14. dripping coolant in the lower earth orbit when connected to the ISS. The chilling leak lasted for three hours and was caught on a NASA TV stream. The astronauts on board the space station were not injured, but the fate of the three astronauts who were meant to use the Soyuz spacecraft to return to Earth remains up in the air.
“NASA and Roscosmos continue to conduct various engineering reviews and consult with other international partners on methods to bring the Soyuz home for both normal and contingency crew missions,” NASA wrote in a blog post. The two space agencies are expected to make a final decision on the viability of the space this month.
Roscosmos hoped to make a decision by December 27, but space propellant was told that the work was greater to evaluate the Soyuz space flight capabilities. The exact reason behind the leak has not been announced, although it may have been by micrometeorite or tiny space junk that left a 0.8 millimeter-wide hole in the Soyuz MS 22 spacecraft.
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Rubio is the first NASA astronaut to fly on a Russian Soyuz rocket ship April 2021and because of the recent seat-turn by agreement between the two space institutions. The organization decided that a US astronaut would ride in a Soyuz capsule in exchange for Russian cosmonauts boarding SpaceX’s Crew Dragon for the first time. If the Soyuz shuttles are deemed useless for the return of the crew, NASA may call on SpaceX to send a Dragon crew that will pick up three astronauts from the ISS and bring them back to Earth. The astronauts are scheduled to return in the spring after six months on board the ISS.
More: Russian Cosmonaut Forced to Abandon Spacewalk Due to Spacesuit Power Malfunction
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