Russia will send another Soyuz spacecraft to the Space Station to "rescue" the astronauts who were left without a ship due to a breakdown

• Special NASA prepares to return to the Moon

Soyuz

to the International Space Station (ISS)

to bring back to Earth the two Russian cosmonauts and the American astronaut who were left without a ship after the failure of the

in which they traveled to the platform on September 21.

, whose return trip to Earth was scheduled for mid-March.

In addition to being left without a vehicle to return to Earth, the failure caused a security crisis, since spacecraft are also a lifesaving vehicle in the event that an emergency forces the evacuation of the orbital platform.

As reported this Wednesday by Roscosmos, and later, at a press conference by Sergei Krikalev, executive director of Russia's manned flight program, and Joel Montalbano, head of the ISS program at NASA, the

will be sent to the ISS on February 20 without crew and with cargo.

This ship was scheduled to be launched in mid-March, but it has been decided to take off earlier and go without cosmonauts to bring the three crew members back.

In addition to the three affected astronauts, four other crew members who arrived aboard a

SpaceX

The Russian agency, Roscosmos, and NASA, have been working together since the leak of cooling liquid was detected on December 14 in the

attached to the ISS, shortly before a spacewalk that Sergey Prokopyev and Sergey Prokopyev were going to do. Dmitri Petelin, and that it had to be cancelled.

The cosmonauts reported to the control center a drop in pressure in the refrigeration system, which indicated a leak that was also clearly visible.

A subsequent analysis revealed that the ship in which the leak occurred had

through which this liquid was lost, essential to keep the capsule at a suitable temperature for space travel.

"After analyzing the state of the ship, thermal calculations and technical documentation, it was concluded that

must return to Earth without a crew on board," said Yuri Borisov, director of Roscosmos.

To know more

Space.

Crisis on the International Space Station: a leak leaves three astronauts without lifeguards

• Writing: TERESA GUERREROMadrid

Crisis on the International Space Station: a leak leaves three astronauts without lifeguards

Space.

The three Spaniards who have experienced the Artemisa 1 mission from Mission Control in Houston: "Joy is impressive"

• Writing: TERESA GUERREROMadrid

The three Spaniards who have experienced the Artemisa 1 mission from Mission Control in Houston: "Joy is impressive"

The main concern in the meantime is that a risk situation occurs that forces the ISS to be evacuated, which is unlikely but cannot be ruled out.

As explained by Borisov, if an emergency occurred while the replacement

arrived , the agency would analyze whether the disabled ship could be used to rescue the crew.

The cause of the hole in the Soyuz has not yet been ascertained.

Although it was ruled out that it was produced by a meteorite a few days after the incident, Roscosmos believes that it could have been the cause.

There is also the possibility that the hole was created by some tiny piece of space junk.

As detailed by the head of Roscosmos, they have also considered sending the replacement capsule with a cosmonaut on board, although they finally concluded that it was preferable to send it without a crew member, which has allowed the launch to be brought forward.

In the event that they had chosen to send a cosmonaut, they would have had to modify the configuration of the ship and prepare the crew member, so takeoff would have taken several more weeks.

In the event that Russia was not capable of launching a rescue

, the possibility of using SpaceX's

ships in which NASA astronauts regularly travel to the ISS had also been considered.

Although the war in Ukraine has paralyzed collaboration with the Russians, and they no longer launch European missions with their rockets, cooperation continues on the International Space Station, one of the few scenarios where we can continue to see Americans and russians.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more