The Russian and US space agencies were working on Thursday to assess the severity of an impressive leak that occurred the day before in a Russian spacecraft docked at the International Space Station, and which could have been caused by the impact of a micrometeorite.
Although the crew members were never in danger, this incident raised concerns about the return flight to Earth of three of them, scheduled for a few months on board the ship in question.
The Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft has been docked to the Space Station (ISS) since it brought two Russian cosmonauts Sergei Prokopiev and Dmitry Peteline there in September, as well as American astronaut Frank Rubio.
On Wednesday, the two Russians were preparing for a spacewalk when an alert system went off, indicating a drop in pressure in the spacecraft’s cooling system, according to a press release from Russia’s Roscosmos space agency.
A micrometeorite may be the cause of the leak
In the images released by NASA, a jet of white particles could be clearly seen escaping abundantly into space, a priori refrigerant.
“The cause of the leak could be a micrometeorite,” Sergei Krikalev, Roscosmos’ director of human spaceflight, said on Thursday, according to a statement reported by the Russian news agency Tass.
The liquid came from the rear of the vehicle, docked in the Russian segment of the station. The leak then stopped on its own. The spacewalk was canceled “to allow time to assess the fluid and potential impacts on the integrity of the Soyuz spacecraft,” NASA said in a statement Thursday.
“Crew members aboard the Space Station are safe and were not in danger during the escape,” it added.
7 people on board the station
The two Russian cosmonauts and the American astronaut arrived on the ISS on September 21 aboard a Russian rocket launched from Kazakhstan.
Typically they must reuse the same spacecraft to return to Earth after about six months, i.e. a mission end in March 2023. If the vehicle is no longer available because it is damaged, possible backup solutions, which have not been officially detailed, could include the dispatch of a new vessel.
Four other people are currently aboard the ISS: Russian Anna Kikina, Americans Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, and Japanese Koichi Wakata.
Source: BFM TV
