Russia Launches Rescue Soyuz to Space Station

24 Feb. () –

An uncrewed Soyuz spacecraft reached orbit towards the International Space Station after launch at 0024 UTC this Friday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome (Kazakhstan).

After a two-day trip, the unmanned spacecraft will automatically dock to the space-facing port of the Poisk module at 0040 UTC on February 26.

The uncrewed Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft lifted off at 7:24pm ET on a two-day journey to the space station to replace the MS-22 that experienced a coolant system leak in December 2022. Read more.. https://t.co/xG17Qs7q7n pic.twitter.com/970Cle2yK6

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) February 24, 2023

This new Soyuz will replace the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft after a coolant leak in the radiator on December 14, 2022. The Soyuz MS-22 transported NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin to the space station last September.

The three crew members will return to Earth on the new Soyuz MS-23 later this year, NASA said. it’s a statement. concrete Roscosmos that will be in September.

The damaged Soyuz MS-22 is scheduled to will undock from the station at the end of March and return to Earth for a parachute-assisted uncrewed landing in Kazakhstan, and post-flight analysis by Roscosmos.