Soyuz MS-22 emergency flown ISS cover - Frank Rubio Artemis 3 astronaut

Soyuz MS-22 Flown Emergency Cover — Signed by the Complete Crew

Exceptional flown Soyuz MS-22 mission cover, hand-signed by the spacecraft’s complete crew: Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin, together with NASA astronaut Frank Rubio.

Soyuz MS-22 launched to the International Space Station on 21 September 2022. During preparations for a Russian spacewalk on 14 December, flight controllers observed coolant escaping from the spacecraft’s external cooling system. Prokopyev and Petelin were already suited for the EVA, but the spacewalk was cancelled before they left the station.

The damage meant that MS-22 could no longer be relied upon to return its crew safely to Earth. Roscosmos therefore launched the uncrewed Soyuz MS-23 as a replacement spacecraft in February 2023. MS-22 later undocked and completed an automated, uncrewed landing in Kazakhstan on 28 March 2023.

Prokopyev, Petelin and Rubio remained aboard the ISS until returning aboard MS-23 on 27 September 2023—371 days after launch.

More than a conventional signed mission cover, this is a rare flown artifact connected to one of the most serious spacecraft contingencies in recent ISS history. Signed by all three astronauts whose planned return was directly affected by the emergency, it represents a remarkable chapter of international spaceflight, crew safety and improvised mission planning.

Frank Rubio has been assigned to the Artemis 3 crew now !