Russia targets February twenty fourth for Soyuz MS-22 crew rescue launch

Russia has set a brand new date for when it can to the Worldwide House Station to retrieve the three astronauts whose Soyuz return craft was compromised . The nation’s Roscosmos area company on Saturday it’s focusing on a February twenty fourth launch for MS-23, the uncrewed Soyuz spacecraft that’s scheduled to convey again cosmonauts Dmitri Petelin and Sergey Prokopyev, in addition to NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, from the Worldwide House Station.

Roscosmos delayed the mission final Monday after Progress 82, a provide ship that had been docked with the ISS since final October, started . Petelin, Prokopyev and Rubio flew to the area station in September, and so they have been speculated to return on the identical Soyuz spacecraft that introduced them there. In December, nonetheless, the spacecraft sprung a leak, on account of an obvious meteoroid strike. One month later, Roscosmos it might ship a second Soyuz craft to retrieve the three astronauts. The timing of the leaks result in {that a} manufacturing situation was at fault for the Soyuz leak, not an errant area rock as Roscosmos had stated. Earlier this week, the company shared images (seen above) displaying the placement of the coolant leak and reported micrometeoroid strike. 

On Saturday, Roscosmos stated it had rigorously inspected the rescue ship to make sure it was undamaged and prepared for flight. In the future earlier, Progress 82 separated from the ISS. Per , video broadcast through the undocking process failed to point out any apparent indicators of injury to the resupply craft. , Progress 82 will provoke a deorbit burn at 10:15PM ET tonight. Supplied Roscosmos doesn’t delay MS-23’s launch, the spacecraft will arrive on the ISS two days earlier than House X’s is scheduled to launch on February twenty sixth. That flight will convey two NASA astronauts, a United Arab Emirates astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut to the area station.