It’s A Long-Shot, But There Have Been Some Discussions At NASA, Of Using A SpaceX Capsule To Bring The ISS Trio Home If Needed, Before February 2023…

We won’t make too much of too little here, since thus far, the primary plan involves a new Soyuz craft arriving in early February 2023 — well within the crew’s original food, and provisions / planning windows.

But as ever, NASA likes back ups — to the back ups. From Reuters, this afternoon, then:

…NASA is exploring whether SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft can potentially offer an alternative ride home for some crew members of the International Space Station after a Russian capsule sprang a coolant leak while docked to the orbital lab.

NASA and Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, are investigating the cause of a punctured coolant line on an external radiator of Russia’s Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft, which is supposed to return its crew of two cosmonauts and one U.S. astronaut to Earth early next year….

It was unclear what NASA specifically asked of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capabilities, such as whether the company can find a way to increase the crew capacity of the Dragon currently docked to the station, or launch an empty capsule for the crew’s rescue….

Now you know… smiling into the coming new year.

नमस्ते