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Crewless Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft to deliver supplies to orbital outpost — Roscosmos

The Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft is set to blast off at 4:57 a.m. Moscow time on February 20

MOSCOW, February 10. /TASS/. The Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft that will travel to the International Space Station (ISS) in crewless mode to bring Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio back to Earth will deliver almost 430 kg of cargo to the orbital outpost, Roscosmos announced on Friday.

"There will be no cosmonauts aboard the Soyuz MS-23 but it will deliver 429 kg of cargo to the ISS for the crew. The supplies will include medical control and examination means, station cleaning and atmosphere management tools, air revitalization and water supply equipment and apparatus for scientific experiments," Roscosmos said in a statement on its Telegram channel.

The Soyuz MS-23 spaceship will also deliver replacement equipment for the ISS Russian segment’s systems, landing aids, maintenance and repair apparatus, crew support means and tools for preventing the negative effect of zero gravity. The cosmonauts will also receive food rations and outfits, it specified.

The Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft is set to blast off at 4:57 a.m. Moscow time on February 20.

The space mission of Roscosmos cosmonauts Prokopyev and Petelin and NASA astronaut Rubio has been extended after a coolant loop on an external radiator of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft docked to the orbital outpost experienced a leak on December 15.

After analyzing the situation, Russia’s state commission made a decision to bring the damaged Soyuz spacecraft back to Earth in crewless mode and return the cosmonauts whose mission has been prolonged for several months aboard the Soyuz MS-23 spaceship.

Before the emergency, the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft was intended to launch to the ISS on March 16.

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