NASA, SpaceX Discuss Upgrading Shield on Crew Dragon Capsule Following Soyuz Damage in Orbit

NASA is evaluating the possibility of requesting SpaceX to enhance the shielding on its Crew Dragon spacecraft in light of an incident where a small hole was created in a Russian Soyuz capsule. The hole, believed to have been caused by a micrometeoroid, occurred while the Soyuz was attached to the International Space Station and resulted in a coolant leak that made the vehicle unable to transport astronauts back to Earth unless it was an emergency.

In response to the hole created in the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, Russia's space agency Roscosmos has scheduled a launch of an empty Soyuz on February 20th to return the three crew members on board MS-22 back to Earth, which is expected to happen in September, about six months later than their original planned return date.

NASA is currently in the early stages of discussion with SpaceX about potentially enhancing the shielding on the Crew Dragon capsule, and the idea was brought up during a meeting for the Commercial Crew Program on January 24th, as reported by Space News.

"Lifeboat" Scenario

During the press conference, Steve Stich, program manager for NASA's Commercial Crew Program, said they began discussing the possibility of taking action to enhance the shielding on SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule after an incident in December 2022 where a small hole was created in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The press conference also updated International Space Station operations and the upcoming SpaceX mission Crew-6, set to launch on February 26th.

Sarah Walker, SpaceX's Director of Dragon mission management, stated that the systems of the Crew Dragon spacecraft currently docked at the International Space Station, named Endurance, which was launched in October on SpaceX's Crew-5 mission for NASA, are in good condition and operating as expected. Russian officials have announced that in case of emergency evacuation of the ISS, the damaged Soyuz MS-22 would be able to transport two of its three crew members; however, the return journey would not be comfortable as the coolant system would be out of service.

According to Yahoo News, the two crew members who would make the trip on MS-22 are cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin. The third crew member, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, would join the four Crew-5 astronauts on Endurance as a "lifeboat" scenario. During a press conference on Wednesday, NASA officials stated that they carefully examined various safety concerns before approving the move of astronaut Frank Rubio from Soyuz MS-22 to the Endurance spacecraft.

Endurance Spacecraft

These considerations included ensuring an adequate supply of oxygen, minimizing carbon dioxide levels, and ensuring a safe landing. The Endurance spacecraft, designed to carry up to seven people, was modified to accommodate four seats, so adding a fifth crew member necessitated a repurposing of supplies already on board the ISS. Steve Stich, program manager for NASA's Commercial Crew Program, explained that they used cargo straps from the CRS-26 vehicle, a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule currently docked to the ISS, to secure Rubio and his seat liner to the floor of the Dragon if needed.

NASA is considering asking SpaceX to upgrade the existing shielding on the Crew Dragon capsule after a small hole was found in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in December 2022. The hole, likely caused by a micrometeoroid, caused a coolant leak and made the Soyuz vehicle, known as MS-22, unsafe for use, except in case of emergency. NASA and SpaceX are in the early stages of discussing this upgrade, and all analyses show that the Crew Dragon docked at the ISS, called Endurance, is currently operating normally, as per Geeky.

The launch of the empty Soyuz vehicle, MS-23, is planned for Feb. 20 and will bring the three MS-22 crew members back to Earth in September, about six months after their original planned return date. The Crew-6 mission, scheduled to lift off on Feb. 26, will be the first long-duration mission for an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates (Sultan Al Neyadi) and will also include NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.

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