SpaceX Offers Solutions For Evacuating Astronauts On ISS In The Event Of An Emergency

Illustration of Crew Dragon rocket (photo: doc. SpaceX)

JAKARTA - SpaceX brings a solution by using Crew Dragon to evacuate astronauts in case of an emergency which is now on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, and docked at the International Space Station (ISS).

In its announcement, NASA stated that the Crew Dragon, which is currently docked at the ISS, can be used to transport astronauts back to Earth, only if an emergency occurs again.

Previously, Soyuz experienced a cooling system leak last December as a result of a micro-meteorite attack. After this quite horrendous event, international space agencies including NASA and Roscosmos worked together to get the astronauts home safely.

Their initial plan was to use the replacement Soyuz aircraft launched this month. However, bearing in mind that a disaster or emergency is always lurking that requires the astronauts on the ISS to be evacuated immediately, this plan must be rethought.

Normally, astronauts on the ISS would be evacuated in the vehicles they rode there like Soyuz, but reflecting on that incident, it is not certain whether the vehicles will be safe for the return journey.

Besides that, the biggest problem is that when the Soyuz is uncooled it can overheat as it passes through Earth's atmosphere. Why, there is a plan in which the damaged Soyuz will return to Earth without a crew, and the astronauts will be sent home with a new Soyuz.

Then in the emergency evacuation idea, the plan is for NASA astronaut Frank Rubio to travel on Crew Dragon with four members of Crew-5, while Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin will return home on the Soyuz which had a cooling system leak.

"What we want to do is reduce the heat load on the Soyuz, so by removing Rubio from the Soyuz, you remove a third of the human heat load," explained International Space Station program manager at NASA, Joel Montalbano in a press conference yesterday, as quoted from The Verge, Wednesday, February 1.

He emphasized that this idea would only be needed in emergency situations. NASA is also working with SpaceX to check whether the existing Crew Dragon vehicle will be safe to carry a crew of five instead of four, including checking airflow, oxygen supply, and making sure it can land safely.

While it may seem like this contingency plan isn't necessary, NASA officials stress they just want to be prepared for any scenario that could occur while waiting for a replacement Soyuz to arrive on the ISS.