The Soyuz MS-22 emergency spacecraft finally returned to Earth without a crew

(YouTube/Roscosmos TV)

The Soyuz MS-22 emergency spacecraft successfully landed in Kazakhstan.

There was no crew on board the descent vehicle, only a large amount of cargo and the results of experiments on the ISS.

The Soyuz MS-22 was launched on September 21, 2022, and it was the first flight under the renewed cross-flight program between Roscosmos and NASA

The new program is providing for the flights of cosmonauts on Crew Dragon spacecraft and astronauts on Soyuz spacecraft.

Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopiev and Dmitry Petelin and NASA astronaut Francisco Rubio went to the ISS.

Three months after docking, an accident occurred on board the ship: due to a hole in the radiator, the thermoregulation system lost its entire supply of refrigerant.

The experts claimed that the cause of the accident was the hit of a sporadic micrometeorite.

It is curious that a similar accident occurred two months later on the Progress MS-21 cargo ship: a micrometeorite.

As a result, the ship was declared unsuitable for returning people to Earth, and an empty Soyuz MS-23 rescue ship was launched to the ISS ahead of schedule.

On the morning of March 28, 2023, Soyuz MS-22 undocked from the ISS and began returning to Earth.

Then, at 14:45 local time, the spacecraft landed by parachute near the city of Zhezkazgan in Kazakhstan.

There was no crew on board the ship; but the Soyuz brought 218 kilograms of cargo and the results of the experiments.

The separation of the ship's compartments and its descent in the atmosphere went without problems.

Sources:

• Space.com:https://www.space.com/leaky-soyuz-spaceraft-departs-space-station-return-to-earth
• Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/science/damaged-russian-soyuz-capsule-lands-back-earth-2023-03-28/

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