Russia postpones the launch of the Soyuz MS-23 rescue ship to the ISS

sarahjay1 (69)memberin Popular STEM • 2 years ago

(Mark Garcia / NASA https://go.nasa.gov/3lCbOMB)

Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, has postponed the launch of the Soyuz MS-23 unmanned rescue ship to the ISS until the first week of March.

The decision is due to the need for additional checks due to a recent accident in the thermoregulation system of the Progress 82P spacecraft (Progress MS-21).

On December 15 last year, an accident occurred in the thermoregulation system of the Soyuz MS-22 manned spacecraft, which is docked to the ISS.

The ship lost all the refrigerant that leaked into space due to a micrometeorite and was declared unsuitable for the return of astronauts to Earth.

It was decided that Soyuz MS-22 would return to Earth without a crew, and an empty Soyuz MS-23 would be launched to replace it on February 20, 2023.

(Roscosmos/Telegram https://bit.ly/3ImEFNz)

PROBLEMS
However, on February 11, 2023, a similar accident occurred on the ISS.

This time the refrigerant leaked from the thermoregulation system of the Progress 82P cargo ship, which was preparing to be crashed into the ocean.

Then, on February 13, the head of Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, announced that the launch of the Soyuz MS-23 would be postponed, until the first week of March 2023 at the most.

This is due to additional checks of the Soyuz MS-23 and the entire ship assembly process.

In addition, the first photograph of the accident site on the Soyuz MS-22 was published.

Borisov also said that the final causes of the two accidents may turn out to be different.

However, now the cause of both accidents is considered to be an external influence: a micrometeorite hit or a fragment of space debris.

The station still has three other operational ships in case of emergency: Progress 83, Cynus-18 and Crew-5 Dragon.

(NASA https://go.nasa.gov/3xng19o)