A planned evening spacewalk by two cosmonauts, Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin, got aborted after ground controllers noticed a large leak of snowflake-like particles from the rear (aft portion) of the Russian Soyuz MS-22.
NASA footage showed a torrent of visible flakes sprayed in space from the Soyuz MS-22 capsule around 7.45 pm EST (12.45 am GMT Thursday) that Russian flight controllers observed and cancelled the mission.
A Torrent of Visible Particles Got Spread From the Aft Portion Of The Soyuz MS-22 Spacecraft
From Nasa’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Rob Navias, NASA Commentator, announced the technical defect. According to Rob, they witnessed a visible stream of particles coming from the Soyuz MS-22 near the instrumentation and propulsion module, denoting a leak.
The technical disorder happened just before the planned evening spacewalk of the two Russian cosmonauts who suited up and were ready to move a radiator according to the module of the Russian part of the International Space Station.
From the Mission Control Operation in Russia, an official informed the pair about the aborted mission over a radio transmission. The cosmonauts restored the airlock pressure, removed their spacesuits, and returned to the space station.
Sergey Prokopyev And Dmitri Petelin Returned To The Space Station
According to a statement from NASA, Moscow specialists were assessing the fluid’s nature and its impact on the integrity of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft. No danger was thought of before the crew member of ISS from the coolant leak. However, officials would sort out the condition of the aircraft soon as it was the cosmonauts’ only ride to the home capsule.
Roscosmos, the Russian Space Agency, was assessing the conditions of the leak on the spacecraft MS-22, which took three cosmonauts into space. On September 21, the Russian Spacecraft Soyuz MS-22 was launched from Kazakhstan, the Baikonur Cosmodrome with Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitri Petelin, and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio into space.
The Configuration of the International Space Station On Dec. 14
On Dec 14, International Space Station (ISS) Configured six capsules which were parked at the space station, including Russia’s Soyuz MS-22. Those six space crafts were reportedly-
- Cygnus space freighter,
- The SpaceX Dragon cargo craft
- Crew Dragon Endurance,
- Russia’s Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft
- The Progress 81 resupply ship and
- The Progress 82 resupply ships.
Russian engineers were figuring out whether the leak had been caused by the impact of space junk and micrometeoroids or the internal problem of Soyuz MS-22 had triggered it.
Return of The Soyuz MS-22 On The Earth
Russian Spacecraft Soyuz MS-22 has been scheduled to return to Earth with three cosmonauts, Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitri Petelin, and Frank Rubio, on March 28, 2024. However, if Russian officials determine the inability of Soyuz MS-22 to bring back the cosmonauts, a replacement of Soyuz would be launched from Baikonur without anyone onboard to bring them back.
However, it is unclear about the launch of the next Soyuz, Soyuz MS-23. According to the reports, Soyuz MS-23 is scheduled to launch on March 16 with two Russian cosmonauts and one NASA astronaut for six months. Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, and NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara are scheduled for it.
