SpaceX Crew Dragon may get a shield upgrade after Soyuz spacecraft leak - Space.com

NASA is considering asking SpaceX to boost the existing shielding on the company's Crew Dragon capsule after something blasted a tiny hole in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in December 2022, agency officials said during a press conference on Wednesday (Jan. 25).

The impact caused a coolant leak that rendered the Soyuz vehicle, known as MS-22, unsafe to carry astronauts home except in case of emergency.

"The Dragon systems are healthy and operating nominally," Walker said during Wednesday's press conference of Endurance, which launched to the orbiting lab this past October on SpaceX's Crew-5 mission for NASA.

(Image credit: Josh Dinner/Space.com)Roscosmos officials say that the damaged Soyuz MS-22 could accommodate two of its three crewmembers if an emergency necessitated the evacuation of the ISS.

NASA considered numerous safety questions before approving Rubio's seat liner for a move from Soyuz MS-22 to Endurance, agency officials said Wednesday, including making sure there was enough oxygen in the SpaceX craft, that carbon dioxide could be minimized and that landing would happen safely.

(Image credit: SpaceX)The empty Soyuz vehicle, known as MS-23, will launch during a stretch that NASA associate administrator Kathy Lueders called "one of the busiest increments in the history of station" during Wednesday's press conference.