New spacecraft going up for ISS crew following coolant leak

Russian space company Roscosmos said on Wednesday it would launch a new spacecraft to take some of the International Space Station crew back to Earth after the capsule damaged and leaked coolant.

Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio arrived at the station in September aboard Soyuz MS-22 and plan to use the capsule to return to Earth. But the coolant leaked last month, causing the cabin temperature to rise.

After analyzing the situation and discussing with NASA, Roscosmos decided to launch the new Soyuz MS-23 capsule in automatic mode without a crew on February 20 that will be used by the return trio, Roscosmos chief Yuri Borisov told reporters.

The missions of Prokopyev, Petelin and Rubio will be extended, Borisov said without specifying how long. He confirmed that Roscosmos had discussed the move with NASA, which agreed to the plan.

Soyuz MS-23 was originally scheduled to launch in March to carry two Russian cosmonauts and a US astronaut into orbit.

Borisov said Russian space officials had explored the option of launching the new Soyuz with one crew but decided against it because it required longer preparation. He said the Soyuz MS-23 will also deliver some supplies to the International Space Station.

In the event of an emergency at the space station that requires the evacuation of the entire crew before a new capsule arrives, space officials will consider whether the Soyuz MS-22 can be used safely, Borisov said.

Caused by micrometeoroids

The leak from Soyuz MS-22 was discovered in December when the Russians were about to leave the station on a planned spacewalk and ground specialists saw a stream of fluid and particles coming out of the Soyuz on a live video feed from space.

Borisov said on Wednesday that his analysis confirmed the leak was caused by a micrometeoroid. He said Soyuz MS-22 will eventually be sent back to Earth without a crew.

Roscosmos and NASA both said the incident posed no danger to the station’s crew. Officials from the Russian and US space agencies are scheduled to talk together about the current plan later Wednesday.

Along with Prokopyev, Petelin and Rubio, four other crew members are currently at the space station: NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada; Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Koichi Wakata; and Anna Kikina of Roscosmos.