A Russian Soyuz rescue vehicle takes off to the International Space Station

The mission should make it possible to return to Earth next September two Russian cosmonauts and one American.

By Le Figaro with AFP

published On 02/24/2023 at 05:55to update On 02/24/2023 at 07:36

The Russian Soyuz spacecraft took off on the night of Thursday, February 23 to Friday, February 24, from Kazakhstan in the direction of the International Space Station (ISS), in order to return two Russian cosmonauts and an American astronaut to Earth next September. have been damaged.

The MS-23 rescue craft, without anyone on board, took off from the Baikonur cosmodrome, according to a live video feed from NASA, which operates the space station (ISS) with Russian space agency Roscosmos. You must dock with the International Space Station overnight, from Saturday to Sunday.

Three passengers aboard the International Space Station are stranded

Tentatively scheduled for launch in mid-March, a new three-person crew was to be flown to the space station. It was finally left blank so he could bring back the three stranded passengers aboard the International Space Station: American Frank Rubio as well as Russians Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petline.

And in the absence of a crew to replace them, the latter’s assignment was extended into September, as their return was originally scheduled for the end of March. So they will spend a total of about a year in space, instead of six months. They won’t be the first to stay on the International Space Station for a long time, that duration has only been equaled in the last year.

Roscosmos excludes manufacturing defect

Two Russian cosmonauts and an American astronaut took off at the end of September 2022 on the Soyuz MS-22. The ships in which the astronauts and cosmonauts arrive aboard the International Space Station then remain docked at the station for the duration of their stay, so that they can serve as a backup vehicle in case an emergency evacuation is necessary. They also leave on the same craft. But in December, Soyuz MS-22 has suffered a spectacular leakaccording to Moscow, due to the impact of a small meteorite.

The coolant leak raised concerns about the temperature that could be reached inside the ship upon its return to Earth. So the Russian Space Agency decided that it could only be used in emergency situations, and chose to send the MS-23 spacecraft as an alternative, which would return the crew in September. The damaged MS-22 ship must be ejected from the International Space Station and returned to Earth empty, probably at the end of next month. Roscosmos said Tuesday that an “external influence” had caused the leak, and ruled out a manufacturing defect.