Damaged Soyuz spacecraft ready for return to Earth without crew

Russia is preparing for the return to Earth of a Soyuz spacecraft that was damaged by a meteoroid last year while it was docked at the International Space Station.

The Soyuz MS-22 will depart from the orbiting laboratory without a crew tomorrow and head back to Earth in autonomous mode.

It was feared that the three astronauts – two Russians and an American – who arrived on the ship in September would be stranded on the station, but Russia’s space agency Roscosmos sent a replacement craft, the Soyuz MS-23, last month.

Roscosmos said a meteoroid left a tiny hole in the spaceship, causing a coolant leak.

“The spacecraft will depart the space station’s Rassvet module at 5.57am EDT [1.57pm GST], heading for an automated, parachute-assisted landing in Kazakhstan at 7.45am,” Nasa said. “The leak was first detected on December 14 when pressure sensors in the spacecraft’s cooling loop showed low readings.”

The three astronauts who arrived on MS-22 will have completed a year on the station when they return on the replacement ship on September 27.

Three other crew members, Russia’s Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub and American Loral O’Hara, were to have used the Soyuz MS-23 for their trip to the space station, but they are no longer going.

Nasa will broadcast the spacecraft’s departure live on its website but not show the re-entry into Earth and landing, instead providing updates online when a landing is attempted. The coolant system is responsible for lowering temperatures inside the spacecraft during its re-entry through Earth’s atmosphere.

After the coolant leak on MS22, the craft may experience unstable temperatures during its flight back.

It would have been too dangerous to bring the crew back on the damaged spacecraft.

Another Russian spacecraft, the Progress 82 cargo ship, suffered a coolant leak last month.

“The reason for the loss of coolant in the Progress 82 spacecraft is being investigated,” Roscosmos said.

“The crew, which was informed of the cooling loop leak, is in no danger and continuing with normal space station operations.”

The resupply spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station in October to deliver food, experiments and personal items to the astronauts on board the orbiting research laboratory.

It safely departed the station last month.

A meteoroid left a tiny hole in the spaceship, causing a coolant leak, while it was docked at the space station