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    $\begingroup$ tethering is actually a pretty bad idea; because of how orbital dynamics work, a tethered vehicle is going to wind up spinning around the center of mass of the shared system (which will be the ISS CM) and contact ISS, which they're only supposed to do at docking ports $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 8, 2024 at 19:52
  • $\begingroup$ What do you mean by “emergency return vehicle”? Are you referring to an additional capsule with no assigned crew, to be used as a lifeboat/return vehicle in emergencies? $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 8, 2024 at 21:16
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    $\begingroup$ It would have to be quite a space pileup for that to be necessary. Doesn't the ISS have eight docking ports? $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 9, 2024 at 10:18
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    $\begingroup$ @Cadence The US side of the ISS has two docking adapters for crewed spacecraft, See space.stackexchange.com/a/2326/6944 (you can skip down to Docking Ports). Russian ISS and US ISS crewed vehicle docking systems are incompatible. $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 9, 2024 at 12:11
  • $\begingroup$ There isn't one specific capsule that is THE emergency return vehicle. All the capsules docked at the station are emergency return vehicles for their specific crews, and also their normal non-emergency return vehicles when it's time for them to leave. The recent starliner trouble means they had to basically make up a way to get those two home in case of an evacuation, which -- as I understand it -- is essentially laying in the floorboard of a Dragon. $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 9, 2024 at 20:23