Decision on possible changes in ISS flight program to be made in January

"On December 15, sensors registered a drop in pressure in the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft’s external cooling loop as Russian cosmonauts were getting ready for a scheduled spacewalk"

A final decision on possible changes in the flight program of the International Space Station’s (ISS) crew will be made early next year, Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos said on Tuesday.

"The commission will make organizational decisions about future actions of ground specialists and the crew of the ISS Russian segment, as well as on possible changes in the station’s flight program in January 2023 on the basis of the working groups’ findings," itt said.

On December 15, sensors registered a drop in pressure in the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft’s external cooling loop as Russian cosmonauts were getting ready for a scheduled spacewalk. Visual examination confirmed a coolant leak. The spacewalk was called off. On December 16 a series of tests of the Soyuz MS-22 spaceship’s systems was conducted. The checks of the propulsion control system, including berthing and attitude thrusters exposed no flaws.

On December 18, the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft’s external surface was inspected with cameras installed on a robotic arm. The spot was identified where the spacecraft’s compartment housing instruments and equipment had been damaged. According to preliminary estimates, the damage could have been caused by a micrometeoroid or space debris.

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Russia's 'final decision' on leaky Soyuz spacecraft at space station to come in January: reports

"The Soyuz is docked to the International Space Station and it's unclear if it can bear its crew back home, following a severe coolant leak earlier in December."

Russian space officials will make their "final decision" in January about whether to let a leaky Soyuz bear its crew back to Earth, according to state media.

The Russian federal space agency, Roscosmos said it is awaiting the results of a working group investigating the findings of a severe Soyuz spacecraft leak on the International Space Station on Dec. 15 that spewed coolant into space.

Roscosmos will release "possible changes in the station's flight program in January 2023 on the basis of the working groups' findings," state media provider TASS wrote on Tuesday (Dec. 27).

Follow-up scans of the Soyuz revealed a hole in its radiator exterior and it is unclear if the spacecraft can bring home two cosmonauts and an astronaut. Since Russia cannot launch a backup craft until February, this may mean the three ISS crew members have no lifeboat in case of emergency. The cause has not yet been determined.

TASS and Roscosmos maintain the cause was likely "a micrometeoroid or space debris." The hole is roughly 0.8 mm in size and an object that caused a hole of that size would not be trackable with current technology, NASA and other space agencies have said.

The space station has been subject to several close calls with space debris lately, including a Russian Fregat rocket stage that swung within less than a mile (0.4 km) on Dec. 21, forcing the ISS to dodge and NASA to delay a spacewalk by a day.

While the ISS crew is in no immediate danger from the leak, they do depend on spacecraft to come home in case of other emergency on the complex. The crew members were supposed to return home in March, but a rescue Soyuz could be ready in February, two or three weeks earlier, if required, Roscosmos has said.

Sending the affected crew members home in a SpaceX Dragon would require a separate launch and a separate set of spacesuits that are usually custom-made for astronauts or cosmonauts ahead of launch.

Sumber:

TASS

Space