Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft returned safely to Earth despite serious leak

The Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft suffered a coolant leak and was returned safely to Earth after a 6-month journey through space.

After 6 months of completing the mission, Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos). returned safely to Earth at 6:46 p.m. on March 28 (Vietnam time) in a steppe near the town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan.

The Soyuz MS-22 released its parachute and landed in a steppe near Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan.

The Soyuz MS-22 opened its parachute and landed in a steppe near Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan. (Photo: Roscosmos).

At the time of landing, the Soyuz MS-22 had no crew and almost no coolant – an important enabler to ensure the protection of people as well as the proper functioning of the machinery on board.

Inside the ship’s storage compartment are approximately 218 kg of cargo, including scientific experiment results and ISS station equipment for analysis or reuse.

“The process of Soyuz MS-22 exiting orbit and landing on Earth went smoothly,” » Roscosmos officials said in a post on Telegram.

NASA spokesman Rob Navias said Soyuz MS-22 left orbit just 55 minutes after disassembly, much earlier than the standard time of 2.5 hours. This is within the permitted range, as the ship does not carry a crew.

An image shared by Russian space agency Roscosmos shows the location of the coolant leak.

An image shared by Russian space agency Roscosmos shows the location of the coolant leak. (Photo: Roscosmos).

In September 2022, Roscosmos launched the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft to take three astronauts Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitri Petelin (Russia) and Frank Rubio (USA) to the International Space Station ISS for a long 6-month mission.

But in December, when it was only halfway through its journey, the Soyuz suffered an unknown leak, causing the ship’s coolant to leak into space.

Initial assessments suggest the ship may have collided with small meteorites. As this incident could seriously affect the safety of the ship returning to Earth, the Soyuz MS-22 will certainly not carry a crew on the return trip.

The Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft just left the ISS on March 28.

The Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft just left the ISS on March 28. (Photo: NASA).

Faced with this unexpected incident, Russia immediately planned to investigate the cause and find a way to resolve the problem. On February 23, Roscosmos launched the Soyuz MS-23 crew capsule to dock with the ISS as a replacement vehicle for the leaking ship.

Astronauts participating in the mission will likely return to Earth later this year aboard a new ship, after spending a full year working in space.

Meanwhile, the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft was returned to Earth earlier to carry out in-depth scientific experiments, clearly understand the cause of the leak, as well as provide solutions to these similar situations in the future.

Article source: Dan Tri