Uncrewed Soyuz MS-23 replacement spacecraft docks at ISS

Moscow, Feb 26 (EFE).- The uncrewed replacement Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft launched to bring two stranded Russian cosmonauts and one NASA astronaut back to Earth, docked with the International Space Station on Sunday.

“Today at 03:58 Moscow time (00:58 UTC/GMT), the Soyuz MS-23 unmanned spacecraft docked to the Poisk module of the International Space Station in automatic mode,” Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Telegram.

A leak was detected in the original Soyuz MS-22 capsule’s cooling system in December, leaving the crew without a ride home. It will be brought back next month.

Soyuz MS-23 will return to Earth in September with the Russian cosmonauts Sergei Prokopiev and Dmitri Petelin, and the American astronaut Frank Rubio – who have been on the ISS since Sep. 21, 2022 – about six months later than scheduled.

The Soyuz MS-23, designed to travel with crew members, carried 429 kilograms of cargo to needed to extend the stay.

Crew number 68 is now working on the ISS, made up of seven people: the Russians Prokopiev, Petelin and Anna Kikina; NASA astronauts Rubio, Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, and Japan’s Koichi Wakata. EFE

mos/tw