MOSCOW, January 17. /TASS/. The Soyuz MS-23 that is going up to the International Space Station on February 20 will deliver food to the crew that had to extend their stay after their return vehicle suffered an accident, a representative of the Institute of Biomedical Problems has told TASS.
"Of course, the Soyuz MS-23 will carry additional food rations. We are now running short there because the stay of the cosmonauts has been extended. The cosmonauts will get canned food, biscuits and so on. If two ships fly, on February 9 and 20, then the cosmonauts will have no problems with food in the near future," said the person at the institute that studies space biology.
The Progress MS-22 freighter, which is scheduled to blast off on February 9, is also set to carry food.
Currently, Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitry Petelin and Anna Kikina, NASA astronauts Josh Cassada, Frank Rubio and Nicole Mann and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Koichi Wakata are working aboard the orbital outpost.
Prokopyev, Petelin and Rubio had their missions extended for a few months due to an external coolant leak at the Soyuz MS-22, their ride home, while it was docked outside of the ISS on December 15. The cosmonauts arrived at the ISS on September 21 and were scheduled to return to the Earth at the end of March.