MOSCOW, January 11. /TASS/. The Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft with its damaged radiator will descend to Earth in unpiloted mode, Roscosmos Chief Yury Borisov said on Wednesday.
"Taking into account the analysis of the spaceship’s condition, thermal calculations and the technical documentation, a conclusion has been made that the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft should descend in crewless mode. In case of especially critical situations aboard the station, the possibility of using the spacecraft for rescuing the crew will be determined by a special decision of the state commission," the Roscosmos chief said, following the results of the commission’s meeting.
A drop in pressure in the docked Soyuz MS-22 manned spacecraft’s external cooling loop was recorded on December 15.
"The cooling loop was lost and found unfit for operation. A special commission was set up to analyze the emergency. Tests of the Soyuz MS-22 spaceship’s propulsion control and navigation systems were carried out along with a mathematical simulation of thermal processes upon the descent from orbit," the Roscosmos chief explained.
Currently, Roscosmos cosmonauts Anna Kikina, Dmitry Petelin who is also a TASS reporter in orbit and Sergey Prokopyev are working aboard the International Space Station. As Roscosmos earlier reported, the incident with the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft did not affect the operation of the ISS Russian segment and the cosmonauts continued their work in accordance with the schedule.