SpaceX Crew Dragon vehicle could be used to evacuate ISS astronauts in an emergency

A SpaceX Crew Dragon vehicle currently docked to the International Space Station (ISS) could be used to transport extra crew members back to Earth in the event of an emergency, NASA announced.

Following a coolant leak in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft docked to the ISS in December, international space agencies including NASA and Roscosmos worked together to come up with a plan to safely transport crew members home. The plan they settled on was to use a replacement Soyuz craft that will be launched in February.

However, observers were concerned about what would happen in the event of an emergency that required the ISS to be evacuated between now and the arrival of the replacement Soyuz. Usually, crew members would evacuate in the vehicles in...

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