Say hello to all my followers! I’m Nuked and today I’m here to talk about the Russian Soyuz spacecraft that recently began leaking coolant while docked at the International Space Station (ISS).

NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos have decided to send a replacement spacecraft for NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin, in which they will travel home. A SpaceX Crew Dragon is also available as a contingency option should it be required.

The new Soyuz, called MS-23, will launch on February 20th and will be used to return the astronauts to Earth. This mission was originally scheduled to launch in March carrying new crew members, but it was brought forward in light of the leak.

NASA has stated that this is not a rescue mission and that the crew aboard the ISS is safe. An image of the damage to the docked Soyuz was obtained using the space station’s robotic arm, showing a hole through the Soyuz radiator and pipe supplying coolant.

With coolant from the system having leaked out, it would be dangerous to fly in the vehicle as temperatures could reach high levels during a return journey to Earth. Sergei Krikalev, Human Space Flight Programs executive director at Roscosmos, explained that the main problem of landing the current Soyuz with the crew would be thermal conditions due to the lack of heat rejection capability.

When the new Soyuz arrives at the space station, equipment will be moved from the old vehicle to the new one. Then, the new Soyuz will be used to bring the crew back to Earth while the old Soyuz will be landed as usual but without crew so it can be checked for damage and its effects on performance.

There is also a possibility of SpaceX using its currently docked Crew-5 Crew Dragon vehicle as a backup to return astronauts to Earth if necessary. NASA says it is in contact with SpaceX regarding this situation but this is a contingency plan only and should not be necessary if the crew can travel on the new Soyuz.

Roscosmos’ investigation revealed that this leak was not caused by a technological or manufacturing issue. Many observers originally thought it could have been caused by a micrometeoroid impact, particularly as it occurred around the time of the Geminid meteor shower when Earth passes through a field of debris in its orbit. Krikalev announced that experiments showed similar damage caused by a particle around 1mm in diameter and traveling at 7 kilometers per second.

NASA will announce the precise dates for upcoming flights in the next few weeks.