Date: March 18, 2023 Time: 13:33:44
Soyuz MS-24 will deliver another crew to the ISS – Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, as well as American astronaut Loral O’Hara. Initially, they were supposed to go to the ISS on March 16 on Soyuz MS-23. But all the letters were confused by an emergency situation with the Soyuz MS-22, whose radiator was pierced by a meteorite and in which, for technical reasons, were the Russians Sergei Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin, as well as the American astronaut Francisco Blond. , can no longer return to Earth.
As you know, after assessing the situation, Roskosmos made a decision: to send the Soyuz MS-23 earlier and in an unmanned version. This ship arrived in Baikonur in September 2022, and at the time of the emergency situation with the Soyuz MS-22, part of the pre-flight checks had already passed. His preparation extended in time and included days off. Therefore, when an emergency situation arose, the schedule was reduced by almost a month. It is this ship that should take Prokopiev, Petelin and Rubio to Earth.
None of the flight program tasks for the Russian segment of the ISS were canceled, but only shifted “to the right”. So, Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub and Loral O’Khara will go to the station on the Soyuz MS-24 and the launch of the Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle with the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft is scheduled for the second half of 2023. .
In addition, preparation of the Progress MS-23 cargo ship is beginning in Baikonur. Its release is scheduled for May.
