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Russia launched a rescue spaceship on February 24, 2023, which is heading to the International Space station. (ISS). It will pick up two cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut stranded at the ISS due to a leak in their original Soyuz capsule. 

A micrometeorite puncture caused the leak in an external radiator that drained the coolant from the now inoperable Russian spaceship. 

The damaged Soyuz capsule was carrying NASA's Frank Rubio and Russia's Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin. Officials determined that it was too risky to bring them back in the damaged Soyuz next month, as initially planned.

The cabin temperature would spike during the trip back to Earth, potentially damaging computers and other equipment and exposing the suited-up crew to excessive heat.

The same thing happened on a docked Russian cargo ship earlier this month.

The urgent need for a replacement Soyuz capsule led to the launch of an empty Soyuz MS-23 capsule that is set to arrive at the orbiting lab on Sunday.

The new Soyuz capsule was launched from Kazakhstan's Baikonur cosmodrome and carried bundles of supplies strapped into the three seats.

Rescue spaceship has successful liftoff

Two top NASA officials traveled from the US to observe the launch in person, given the urgent need for this capsule. To everyone's relief, the capsule safely reached orbit nine minutes after liftoff, described by NASA Mission Control's Rob Navias as "a perfect ride to orbit."

Emergency plans call for Rubio to switch to a SpaceX crew capsule that's docked at the space station until the new Soyuz arrives.

Prokopyev and Petelin remain assigned to their damaged Soyuz in the unlikely need for a fast getaway. Russian engineers concluded that having one less person on board would keep the temperature down to a manageable level.

The damaged Soyuz capsule will return to Earth with no one aboard by the end of March. 

The three men launched in the Soyuz, last September, on what should have been a six-month mission. 

They'll now stay in space for a full year until a new capsule is ready for their crew replacements for liftoff in September. And the stranded crew can continue their mission until a new Soyuz capsule is prepared for their replacements in September.

NASA's deputy space station program manager, Dana Weigel, said that the Russians are continuing to investigate both spacecraft leaks. And are looking at everything to prevent this in the future. 

NASA has a fresh crew of four launching atop a SpaceX rocket early Monday morning. They will take off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center.

SpaceX's William Gerstenmaier said that the four astronauts returning to Earth in a few weeks have already inspected the Dragon capsule that will carry them home, and "it all checked out fine."

The successful launch of the rescue Soyuz capsule brings relief to the stranded space travelers. The cosmonauts and the astronaut can now return home safely. 

The investigation into the leaks on both spacecraft continues. And the damaged Soyuz capsule will undergo an examination by engineers on Earth.