ISS astronaut, cosmonauts find safe ride back to Earth after Soyuz damaged
Next month, Russia plans to launch an empty Soyuz to the International Space Station to bring back two cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut who don’t have a safe ride home.
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The empty Soyuz being used for their rescue was originally supposed to launch with a replacement crew in March. No new crew means those cosmonauts and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio will spend several more months aboard the ISS.
The cooling system for the Soyuz MS-22 sprung a leak on Dec. 14, likely the result of a meteoroid strike.
Officials said the Soyuz is set to be deployed on Feb. 20.
The damaged spacecraft won’t return to Kazakhstan until the new Soyuz arrives because the Soyuz spacecraft and the SpaceX Crew Dragon docked at the space station also serves as lifeboats for the astronauts and cosmonauts living aboard the ISS.
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