Months after being damaged by a micrometeoroid in space, the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft finally undocked from the International Space Station to begin its journey back home. The spacecraft, which has the capability of housing three astronauts on the trip, returned empty on Tuesday and is set to make an automated, parachute-assisted landing in Kazakhstan. Expedition 69 began aboard the station at the time of undocking the damaged spacecraft. Ground specialists discovered that the Soyuz MS-22 capsule had begun leaking coolant in December 2022 following a tiny meteoroid’s impact that created a small hole in the spacecraft’s exterior radiator, sending coolant spewing into space. A replacement Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft was launched to the station in February 2023. However, the three astronauts who arrived in space in the damaged Soyuz spacecraft will remain in the flying lab. The undocking of the damaged Soyuz MS-22 capsule marks a significant event in the history of space travel, as it shows the remarkable resilience and safety of the spacecraft and the capabilities of the astronauts aboard the ISS.
Months after being damaged by a micrometeoroid in space, the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft has finally undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) to begin its journey back home. The spacecraft, capable of carrying up to three astronauts, returned empty on Tuesday and is set to make an automated, parachute-assisted landing in Kazakhstan. Expedition 69 began aboard the ISS at the time of undocking the damaged spacecraft.
Ground specialists discovered that the Soyuz MS-22 capsule had begun leaking coolant in December 2022, following a tiny meteoroid’s impact that created a small hole in the spacecraft’s exterior radiator, sending coolant spewing into space. This resulted in a pressure drop on instruments, as well as a stream of fluid and particles on a live video feed from space.
A replacement Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft was launched to the station in February 2023. However, the three astronauts who arrived in space in the damaged Soyuz spacecraft will remain in the flying lab. Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev is the station commander for the crew consisting of NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen, Woody Hoburg, and Frank Rubio, UAE astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Andrey Fedyaev and Dmitri Petelin.
The undocking of the damaged Soyuz MS-22 capsule marks a significant event in the history of space travel, as it shows the remarkable resilience and safety of the spacecraft and the capabilities of the astronauts aboard the ISS.
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