Soyuz capsule launched for unusual rescue mission Switzerland sends more experts to Turkey and Syria

An unmanned Soyuz capsule has launched to the ISS to replace a damaged space shuttle in the International Space Station. The Soyuz MS-23 lifted off from Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Friday, according to live images from the US space agency Nasa.

With about 430 kilograms of cargo on board for the crew, including medical supplies and equipment for scientific experiments, the capsule will dock at the ISS on Sunday at 02:01 CET.

The unusual mission became necessary because the MS-22 ferry docked at the ISS has a leak – likely caused by a micrometeorite. The liquid escaping from the cooling system made the return of two Russians and an American seem risky.

return in the fall

The plan now is that cosmonauts Sergei Prokopjew and Dmitri Petelin, as well as NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, who came to the ISS on MS-22 in September, are expected to return to Earth on MS-23 in the fall. In the meantime, the damaged MS-22 capsule could fly back unmanned from the ISS.

Russia and the United States have been working closely together for more than 20 years on the space station about 400 kilometers above the earth, but exactly one year ago the relationship fell into a deep crisis due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, both countries continue to cooperate in space. (sda/dpa)