The routine, or almost, on board the ISS. Although the Soyuz spacecraft currently docked at the International Space Station is causing concern, space agencies and astronauts are continuing their activities on board. A release is even planned for December 21.
Activities on board the International Space Station (ISS) continue, despite the coolant leak noted on the Soyuz spacecraft in mid-December. The proof: a spacewalk is scheduled for Wednesday, December 21. Two Americans, Frank Rubio and Josh Cassada, prepare for a seven-hour mission.
This is the first mission outside the ISS organized since the discovery of a leak on the Russian spacecraft – a hole with a diameter of 0.8 mm was observed, the origin of which is unclear. Perhaps it is the result of an impact with a micrometeorite or with a tiny piece of debris, of which there are hundreds of thousands orbiting the Earth.
Modern solar panels for the ISS
The objective of the outing is not to work at the Soyuz level, but to proceed with the installation of new generation solar panels: IROSA (for “ISS Roll-Out Solar Arrays”). Unfoldable, there will be six in all. The outing led by Rubio and Cassada aims to install the fourth IROSA kit on the ISS’s P4 beam, which already supports solar panels.
These six IROSA solar panels do not replace the old panels, eight in number, but reinforce them. Indeed, the ISS relies on panels that have aged – the first date from the 2000s. They worked for more than twenty years, while their operational life was estimated at fifteen years. The new panels will partly cover the old ones.
According to NASA, ” the combination of the original eight larger panels and the new, smaller, but more efficient panels will restore the power output of each increased panel to approximately the amount generated when the original panels were installed for the first time, providing a 20-30% increase in energy for ISS research and operations. »
During the spacewalk, the two astronauts will be supported by the Canadarm 2 arm, which will be piloted from inside the ISS. The maneuver will be closely followed by Nicole Mann, NASA astronaut, and Koichi Wakata, her counterpart with the Japanese space agency. Sergei Prokopiev, the Russian cosmonaut, is also on board, as the current commander of the ISS.
Regarding the Soyuz, the Russian space agency Roscosmos is studying the two scenarios available to it: either the spacecraft presents no risk to the integrity of its passengers and it can be used to return to Earth. Either there is a risk during atmospheric re-entry. In this case, another Soyuz capsule, empty, would be sent in February or March to shuttle.
The decision of Roscosmos is expected December 27. The people who must return with Soyuz MS-22 (or Soyuz MS-22) are the American Frank Rubio and the Russians Sergei Prokopiev and Dimitri Peteline. For the record, these two were to go out in space in mid-December, before their mission was canceled because of the leak.
