Russia to Launch Leaked Soyuz MS-22 Replacement Capsule to ISS to Pick Up Cosmonauts

Soyuz MS-22 floating laboratory inhabited by cosmonauts

JAKARTA - The Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) has decided to launch a replacement spacecraft for the Soyuz MS-22 next month to the International Space Station (ISS), in an effort to bring astronauts back to Earth.

This was done after the shocking incident of the Soyuz MS-22 floating laboratory inhabited by cosmonauts (as Russian astronauts) Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitri Petelin, and astronaut Frank Rubio from NASA, on the ISS experienced a leak on December 14.

The incident occurred as Prokopyev and Petelin were preparing to float outside the laboratory for their planned spacewalk.

When the cosmonauts saw their capsule spewing coolant and particles into the atmosphere, presumably due to a micrometeoroid strike, they aborted the spacewalk. But all other ship systems seemed to work normally, unfortunately the cabin temperature became higher.

Soyuz MS-22 is not just a laboratory occupied by the three ISS crew, it is also a vehicle that the ISS crew can use to return to Earth. However, since the incident last December, mission controllers at Roscosmos and NASA have been concerned about whether the spacecraft will still be safe to use to return home.

After analyzing the situation and discussing it with NASA, Roscosmos finally decided to launch the new Soyuz MS-23 capsule in automatic unmanned mode on February 20 to bring the three back.

As such, the three ISS crew members will extend their stay on Soyuz MS-22 by nearly a year and return to Earth in late summer or early fall aboard Soyuz MS-23.

"We will probably extend this crew's stay at the station for an additional few months. Exactly when to send their replacements has yet to be decided, but it will be a mission of several months longer," said a veteran cosmonaut and director of human spaceflight operations for Roscosmos, Sergei Krikalev, quoted from CBS News, Thursday, January 12.

Prior to the incident, the replacement crew originally planned to launch with the Soyuz MS-23 in March this year, namely Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub and NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara, will now await reassignment.

The next NASA-sponsored SpaceX Crew Dragon flight, known as Crew 6, will also remain on the launch path in late February as originally planned. Meanwhile, Crew 5 will depart with a crew of four a week or so after that.