Russia's Soyuz MS-22 Crew To Remain At ISS Until Replacement Spaceship Used Up - Cosmonaut

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th April, 2023) The crew of the recently damaged Russian spaceship Soyuz MS-22 will remain at the International Space Station (ISS) for another six months as the replacement Soyuz MS-23 needs to fully work off its service life, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko told Sputnik.

"During the search for the causes of depressurization of the external cooling circuit radiators of Soyuz MS-22 and Progress MS-21, the points of view on the date of launch also changed.�It was eventually decided that if a new spacecraft is launched, it should work off its service life," Kononenko said on the eve of Cosmonautics Day, which is celebrated in Russia and other post-Soviet countries on April 12.

The cosmonaut explained that due to this decision the expedition of the crew that arrived at the ISS aboard Soyuz MS-22 had been extended for an additional six months.

Kononenko noted that before making the final decision, various dates and crew composition options had been considered for replacing Soyuz MS-22's crew.

One of the options was Kononenko's suggestion to fly solo, as he said the Russian Cosmonaut Training Center had this scenario worked out and tested. Russia ended up rejecting this option, however, as the extra cosmonaut would have been left without a spot on a rescue ship in the event of an emergency at the ISS.

The flight of Soyuz MS-24 is scheduled for September 15, 2023. Its crew, in addition to Kononenko, includes Russian cosmonaut Nikolai Chub and NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara. Initially the flight was planned for March 16, 2023 on the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft. However, their spacecraft had to be sent earlier in an unmanned mode, so that it would replace the Soyuz MS-22 with a faulty cooling system.