Russia will send an unmanned Soyuz capsule on February 20 to deliver two Russian cosmonauts and an American astronaut aboard the International Space Station to Earth. The three were supposed to return to Earth in March in the capsule that took them there, but the capsule was damaged after a leak in December.

The capsule, with which the three will return to Earth, will be sent unmanned from the Baikonur Cosmodrome to the ISS. Also without a crew, another capsule damaged in December will head in the opposite direction to Earth.

Serhii Prokopiev, Dmytro Petelin and Frank Rubio arrived aboard the ISS on September 21, 2022 with the help of the MS-22 capsule and were supposed to return to Earth with it in March 2023.

In mid-December, the capsule’s coolant leaked after a mini-meteorite crashed into a radiator pipe and damaged the spacecraft.

Roscosmos announced that it will send the Soyuz MS-23 capsule on February 20 to deliver two Russians and an American to Earth. This capsule will be launched without a crew on board, but will have supplies. The MS-22 capsule, damaged by the leak, will be sent to Earth without humans on board.

In addition to the three, there are four more astronauts on board the station: Nicole Mann and Josh Kassada (USA), Koichi Wakata (Japan) and Anna Kikina (Russia).

Sources: Reuters, phys.org