NASA to Host Media Update on Space Station Plans, Soyuz Status

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA will host a media teleconference at 9 a.m. EST Wednesday, Jan. 11, to discuss results from the investigation of the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-22 external coolant leak and the forward strategy for uninterrupted human operations aboard the International Space Station.

Live audio of the call will stream on the agency's website at:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

Briefing participants include:

• Joel Montalbano, International Space Station program manager, NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston
• Sergei Krikalev, Human Space Flight Programs executive director, Roscosmos

Media interested in participating by phone must contact the Johnson newsroom no later than one hour before the start of the call at 281-483-5111 or jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov.

The leak was first detected around 7:45 p.m. on Dec. 14, 2022, when pressure sensors in the spacecraft's cooling loop showed low readings. At the time of the leak, Roscosmos cosmonauts were preparing to conduct a spacewalk. The spacewalk was postponed, so no crew members exited the space station or were exposed to the leaking coolant.

NASA provided an additional inspection of the Soyuz exterior using the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm on Dec. 18. The agency and Roscosmos specialists have continued to closely monitor Soyuz spacecraft systems. NASA and Roscosmos are concluding their work together to develop a course of action following the analysis.

The Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft carried NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin into space after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 21.

For updates, follow along on NASA's space station blog at:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

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SOURCE NASA