The launch of the rescue Soyuz capsule was itself postponed earlier this month. File
| Photo Credit: REUTERS
Russia’s house company on Tuesday stated that the crew stuck on the International Space Station due to a broken capsule have been now anticipated to return to Earth in September, a 12 months after they first launched into orbit.
Russian cosmonauts Dmitry Petelin and Sergei Prokopyev and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio flew to the ISS in September 2022 aboard a Soyuz MS-22 capsule.
They have been scheduled to return dwelling in the identical spacecraft, however it started leaking coolant in mid-December after being hit by what U.S. and Russian house officers consider was a tiny house rock.
Russia plans to ship a rescue ship, a Soyuz MS-23, on February 24.
Before the leak, the trio had been due to return to Earth on March 28, 2023.
But on Tuesday, Russia’s Roscosmos house company stated in an announcement that their return “at the moment is scheduled to take place aboard the Soyuz MS-23 in September, 2023.”
Roscosmos stated the prolonged house keep — usually ISS missions final six months — posed no well being dangers for the crew, including that that they had taken the information of their mission extending “positively.”
In 2021, Russia’s Pyotr Dubrov and the U.S.’s Mark Vande additionally spent a 12 months on the ISS after their mission was prolonged, it stated.
The launch of the rescue Soyuz capsule was itself postponed earlier this month after one other vessel — a Russian provide ship docked on the ISS, the Progress MS-21 — had additionally leaked coolant, sparking concern.
On Tuesday Roscosmos stated that individual leak was brought on by an “exterior impact,” based mostly on photographs and movies that confirmed holes on the capsule’s exterior, together with on the radiator and photo voltaic panels.
Space has remained a uncommon venue of cooperation between Moscow and Washington for the reason that begin of the Russian offensive in Ukraine and ensuing Western sanctions on Russia.
The ISS was launched in 1998 at a time of elevated U.S.-Russia cooperation following the Cold War “Space Race.”
Russia has been utilizing the ageing however dependable Soyuz capsules to ferry astronauts into house for the reason that Sixties.
But in latest years Russia’s house programme has been beset by a litany of issues which have led to the lack of satellites and autos.
