Three astronauts adrift leak, while NASA and Roscosmos are looking for a solution in the shortest possible time

On December 15, Russia’s federal space agency, Roscosmos, reported that the Soyuz M2-22 spacecraft had sustained damage to its outer surface, leading to the cancellation of the cosmonauts’ flight into space. The authority stated that the damage occurred in the radiator, which was hit by a small meteorite. Among the affected crew members are cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petlin, and American from NASA Francisco Rubio.

“The crew reported that the ship’s diagnostic system alarm had activated indicating low pressure in the cooling system.. A visual inspection confirmed the leak, after which a decision was made to cut off the planned extravehicular activities by crew members of the Russian section of the International Space Station Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petlin’ ship.

Soyuz MS-22 launched toward the International Space Station on September 21, 2022. Prokopyev is the commander and Rubio is a NASA passenger. Despite the failure on the ship, Roscosmos stated that the crew’s endangerment was nothing serious or anything. “Neither the Soyuz spacecraft nor the (International Space) station, either in the Russian or the American part, have not detected any other changes in the telemetry parameters, so the astronauts are not in danger,” the agency said.

The hatch was scheduled to open for Thursday, December 22, and would take six hours and 37 minutes to walk. But, This process has been postponed until further notice. The crew reported to Roscosmos that “the ship’s diagnostic alarm has activated, indicating a decrease in pressure in the cooling system.”. In more than 50 years, since the operation of the Soyuz capsules, no case of this caliber has occurred.

To help the astronauts and continue the special mission, the International Space Station has contacted SpaceX to provide an Endeavor rescue team.

“We have asked SpaceX some questions about their ability to field additional crew members on Dragon if needed, but that is not our primary focus at this moment,” NASA spokeswoman Sangra Jones said in a statement to the public. However, this ship has the maximum crew, so it will be difficult to rescue the stranded astronauts.

Another drawback is that SpaceX only releases crew in the special suits they made. The astronauts on the Soyuz don’t have these, but Sokol-type suits. But, The first support option is the one that Roscosmos thought of, Which is to send up another empty Soyuz so the astronauts can get inside. So far, the Russian company has not reached out or made any decision on the rescue.

The result that could happen to the Soyuz if it is not recovered in time is a total loss of refrigeration. Depending on the size of the leak, the vessel may run out of coolant, so it must be completely turned off and remote separation will not be allowed, but the direct intervention of another vessel will be mandatory.