Rescue Planned for ISS Crew Whose Ride Home Was Hit by Micrometeoroid: 'Space Is Not a Safe Place'

Shafiq Najib
·2 min read
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Rescue Planned for ISS Crew Whose Ride Home Was Hit by Micrometeoroid: 'Space Is Not a Safe Place'
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A mission was announced Wednesday to rescue three crew members of the International Space Station (ISS) after the vessel they rode into orbit in September sustained a leak.

Russian space agency Roscosmos plans to launch the spacecraft Soyuz MS-23 on Feb. 20 so that cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin as well as NASA astronaut Francisco Rubio will have a ride back home to earth, CNN and Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, MS-22, the damaged spacecraft that brought the crew to the ISS, will return to earth without any passengers about a week or two upon the arrival of MS-23, according to CNN.

MS-22 experienced damage of a tiny puncture less than 1 millimeter wide after getting struck by a micrometeoroid while being docked outside the ISS on Dec. 14. As a result, the vessel began to spray radiator coolant into space, causing the cosmonauts to halt their planned spacewalk.

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Nasa Tv/UPI/Shutterstock (13692268d) Screengrab showing the leak on the Soyuz capsule, which was first detected on Wednesday, December 14, 2022, shortly before Expedition 68 crewmates Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin of Roscosmos were scheduled to begin a spacewalk, has been described by a NASA spokesperson as "fairly substantial." The leaking spacecraft, designated Soyuz MS-22, carried NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and cosmonauts Petelin and Prokopyev to the International Space Station (ISS) on September 21. NASA and Roscosmos are currently evaluating if they will need to mount a rescue mission to the ISS. Photo via NASA TV/UPI NASA and Roscosmos Evaluate Rescue Mission After Soyuz Leak Discovered, Washington, District of Columbia, United States - 02 Jan 2023

Nasa Tv/UPI/Shutterstock

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According to Joel Montalbano, ISS program manager at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, MS-22 is deemed unfit to serve as a transportation vehicle for the crew due to the leak which could raise the temperature in the cabin to 100 degrees or more along with high humidity, The New York Times reported.

The crew who were scheduled to return to earth in March will now have to extend their stay by several more months following the change of plans.

"They are ready to go with whatever decision we give them," Montalbano, said in a news conference on Wednesday, per Reuters. "I may have to fly some more ice cream to reward them."

TOPSHOT - NASA astronaut Frank Rubio (R) and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev (C) and Dmitri Petelin, members of the International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 68 main crew, pose in front of a bus while leaving a hotel for pre-launch preparations at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 21, 2022. - The trio is scheduled to launch aboard their Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft on September 21. (Photo by NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA / AFP) (Photo by NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP via Getty Images)

NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP/Getty

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However, in the event of an emergency, while waiting for MS-23 to arrive, MS-22 would be considered to be used as a rescue vessel.

"When the crew will have a real threat to life on the station, then probably the danger of staying on the station can be higher than going down in an unhealthy Soyuz," Sergei Krikalev, Russia's chief of crewed space programs, explained.

Krilavev said the agency and the crew were aware of the danger and possibility of such damages occurring in space.

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"Space is not a safe place, and not a safe environment. We have meteorites, we have a vacuum and we have a high temperature and we have complicated hardware that can fail," Krikalev added. "Now we are facing one of the scenarios ... we are prepared for this situation."