NASA considered SpaceX for a back-up plan to return the International Space Station crew to Earth amid the Soyuz leak.
NASA and the Russian Space Agency are investigating the leak, which began in December.
Two cosmonauts and a cosmonaut were scheduled to return home in March in a Soyuz capsule.
NASA contacted Elon Musk’s SpaceX to see if it was able to eject three crew members from the International Space Station (ISS) after a docked Russian spacecraft leaked.
The US space agency told me in a blog post on Friday, asking whether the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft has the ability to facilitate emergency repatriation.
The agency added that the main goal is to understand the post-leak capabilities of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft.
The Soyuz capsule was scheduled to return the three crew members in March after their transfer to the International Space Station on September 21 for a six-month mission, NASA says. The crew consists of two cosmonauts, Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petlin, and American astronaut Frank Rubio.
NASA and Russian space agency Roscosmos have been working together to investigate the leak and determine the next steps, according to the agency.
“We have asked SpaceX some questions about their ability to return additional crew members to Dragon if needed, but that is not our primary focus at this time,” a NASA spokeswoman said in a statement. Reuters 28 Dec.
NASA and SpaceX did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
The external leak was first detected in a Soyuz capsule when two cosmonauts from the Russian space agency were preparing for a spacewalk, NASA said Dec. 14.
screenshots Share A report by NASA in December showed the leak, which appeared to be white particles escaping from the Soyuz spacecraft, which was docked at the International Space Station.
Roscosmos said on Dec. 22 that it was considering a “rescue” mission to return crew members to Earth earlier than planned, Reuters reported. According to the report, this would involve flying an empty spacecraft to the International Space Station for recovery.
Read the original article on Business Intern