The Russian Spacecraft is facing a major coolant leak at the International Space Station. This leak has postponed their plans to launch a lifeboat for the safety of the cosmonauts there. The reason for the leak is still a big mystery to the investigators.
This Russian Spacecraft is named MS-23 Soyuz spacecraft, which was supposed to be launched on February 20, Sunday but the scientists discovered a bump on the road, and it was postponed to a month later. The coolant leak in the spacecraft arose in December, which proved that it was not safe for the crew to journey back in it.
Another spacecraft, Russia’s Progress 82 Freighter, faced a similar problem where its external radiator was losing its coolant rapidly. This incident happened last October and is said to have happened because of a micrometeor strike, but the investigators have not yet established a connection between the two incidents.
In an interview with the Russian media, Roscosmos chief Yuri Borisov said that they are taking their time until the first week of March to sort out the breakdown issue in this crewless spacecraft. They are hoping that the issue will be solved and MS-23 Soyuz will be ready to launch. The report also suggested that Progress 82 is currently out from the orbital outpost, and the mysterious happenings with it are evaluated. NASA has been mostly silent on this topic.
During a meeting at RKK Energia, a spacecraft manufacturer, Dmitry Strugovets pointed out that the leak started on February 11 around 4.40 am ET. To evaluate the concerns of Progress 82, the team of investigators is using a camera attached to the Canadarm Robotic Arm. There is no absolute surety about the departure of Progress 82 as planned.
The investigators doubt that a tiny meteorite has hit MS-22, but there is no confirmation yet. The Russian Space Agency has released photographs of the damage on the spacecraft to prove that it has been hit by a meteorite and not a manufacturing defect on their part.
The delay of the MS-23 launch is not favorable to the cosmonauts as they might need a lifeboat in case of an emergency which they clearly don’t have. It is speculated that NASA will launch Crew-6 and Crew-5 before MS-23 is ready to launch its Spacecraft. But the Russian Space Agency has the mission of MS-24 lined up for later this year, and the spectators are watching.
After being a professional journalist for 5 years and understanding the ups and downs of health care sector all over the world, Kevin shifted his focus to the digital world. Today, he works as a contributor for Lone Tree Voice with a knack for covering Health & Science news in the best possible format.