Anonymous
10/30/2025, 10:47:01 PM
No.16831937
https://russianspaceweb.com/soyuz-ms-28.html
>The Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft, carrying two Russian cosmonauts and a US astronaut to the International Space Station was set for launch from Cosmodrome Baikonur on Nov. 27, 2025. The mission was originally supposed to use Soyuz-MS vehicle No. 759, which was the next on the assembly line at RKK Energia's ZEM factory in Korolev, near Moscow. However, during routine post-production tests at ZEM's Checkout and Test Facility Vehicle No. 759 reportedly suffered major damage to its thermal protection system which could not be repaired in time for the Expedition 74 launch. According to one source the ship's main thermal control heat shield, attached to the base of the Descent Module, was accidentally jettisoned, perhaps by a stray signal triggering the pyrotechnic bolts, connecting the Frisbee-shaped structure to the capsule. According to another source, the thermal layers of the shield peeled off, as a result of botched thermal tests.
>As of late October 2025 neither Roskosmos nor the official media had confirmed the fact of an incident, but the photos of the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft undergoing processing in Baikonur, which accompanied press-releases about the launch campaign, showed No. 753 on the flight-worthy ship. That particular Soyuz-MS was initially reserved for "tourist" missions, but after the last hopes for commercialization of the Russian space flight had evaporated due to the quagmire in Ukraine, Roskosmos was free to press Vehicle No. 753 back into routine service for the ISS. The incident with Vehicle No. 759 provided an opportunity to use the mothballed ship, before some of its critical systems would go beyond warranty.
>The Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft, carrying two Russian cosmonauts and a US astronaut to the International Space Station was set for launch from Cosmodrome Baikonur on Nov. 27, 2025. The mission was originally supposed to use Soyuz-MS vehicle No. 759, which was the next on the assembly line at RKK Energia's ZEM factory in Korolev, near Moscow. However, during routine post-production tests at ZEM's Checkout and Test Facility Vehicle No. 759 reportedly suffered major damage to its thermal protection system which could not be repaired in time for the Expedition 74 launch. According to one source the ship's main thermal control heat shield, attached to the base of the Descent Module, was accidentally jettisoned, perhaps by a stray signal triggering the pyrotechnic bolts, connecting the Frisbee-shaped structure to the capsule. According to another source, the thermal layers of the shield peeled off, as a result of botched thermal tests.
>As of late October 2025 neither Roskosmos nor the official media had confirmed the fact of an incident, but the photos of the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft undergoing processing in Baikonur, which accompanied press-releases about the launch campaign, showed No. 753 on the flight-worthy ship. That particular Soyuz-MS was initially reserved for "tourist" missions, but after the last hopes for commercialization of the Russian space flight had evaporated due to the quagmire in Ukraine, Roskosmos was free to press Vehicle No. 753 back into routine service for the ISS. The incident with Vehicle No. 759 provided an opportunity to use the mothballed ship, before some of its critical systems would go beyond warranty.