A Russian spacecraft docks with the International Space Station to return stranded astronauts
A Russian spacecraft has launched a mission to bring back the three stranded cosmonauts (AFP)
They are stranded after a leak begins in the cooling system of their MS-22 spacecraft.
The Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) said today, Sunday, that the spacecraft that launched a mission to return the three astronauts stranded on the International Space Station has docked with the station.
The Soyuz M capsule was launched . S-23 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, on Friday, on a mission aimed at returning the Russian astronauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petlin and the American Francisco Rubio. All three are scheduled to be brought back in September.
The three were due to end their mission in March but were stranded in space after a leak began in their M spacecraft's cooling system. S-22. And that damaged capsule will be returned without personnel next month.
Roscosmos said, on the “Telegram” application, “Today, at 3:58 am Moscow time (00:58 GMT), the uninhabited capsule Soyuz MS-23 automatically docked with the Puisk unit (designated for landing vehicles) at the International Space Station.”
Roscosmos and the US Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) believe that the leak occurred because a small cosmic rock hit the capsule very quickly.
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