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| Coolant leaks from Russia's Soyuz crew capsule, currently docked to the International Space Station (ISS) (Image credit: NASA) |
An uncontrolled coolant leak on a Russian-built Soyuz spacecraft docked at the
International Space Station had damaged the crew capsule, Russia's space
agency Roscosmos has said in a statement.
On Wednesday (Dec. 14) at 7:45 p.m. EST (0045 GMT on Dec. 15), a
violent coolant leak
on Russia's Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft currently docked to the International
Space Station (ISS) was detected while Expedition 68 cosmonauts Sergey
Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin were preparing for a nearly seven-hour
spacewalk outside the ISS. The extravehicular activity (EVA) was called off
after both cosmonauts were already in their spacesuits and beginning to
depressurize the airlock. Cameras on the outside of the space station showed
a steady stream of frozen coolant shooting into space from the Soyuz capsule
as the cosmonauts returned to the main body of the station.
On Thursday (Dec. 15), Roscosmos issued a
statement via
its Telegram channel, writing that "according to preliminary information, on
Thursday, December 15, the outer skin of the instrument and assembly
compartment of the Soyuz MS-22 manned spacecraft was damaged," but that the
crew aboard the space station remains safe,
according
to a translation by Google. (The incident occurred at 3:45 a.m. local time
on Dec. 15 for Russia's mission control.)
"The crew reported that the warning device of the ship's diagnostic system
went off, indicating a pressure drop in the cooling system. A visual
inspection confirmed the leak, after which it was decided to interrupt the
planned extravehicular activities by the crew members of the Russian segment
of the ISS, Sergey Prokopiev and Dmitry Petelin," Roscosmos officials wrote in
the statement.
"At the moment, all systems of the ISS and the ship are operating normally,
the crew is safe," the statement continued. "After analyzing the situation, a
decision will be made on the further actions of both specialists on Earth and
members of the crew of the ISS Russian segment."
NASA issued a
similar statement
on Thursday, writing that "NASA and Roscosmos will continue to work together
to determine the next course of action following the ongoing analysis. The
crew members aboard the space station are safe, and were not in any danger
during the leak."
In response to a request for more detailed information from Space.com, a
NASA spokesperson said the agency will issue an update on
its blog.
It remains unclear how the leak and damage to the Soyuz craft will affect
the planned March 2023 return of the MS-22 crew, which includes NASA
astronaut Frank Rubio. Neither NASA nor Roscosmos has given any hint of
whether the MS-22 capsule meant to carry Rubio, Petelin and Prokopiev home
remains flightworthy following the apparently significant loss of coolant.
It is also unknown whether the ISS as a whole or the Cygnus cargo spacecraft
docked near MS-22 suffered any damage due to the leak. There are also two
Progress cargo capsules, a Dragon cargo capsule and a Crew Dragon, which
carried NASA's Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japan's Koichi Wakata and
cosmonaut Anna Kikina to the space station in October 2022.
The space agencies haven't suggested which particular coolant leaked from
the Soyuz vehicle, but ammonia, a common spacecraft coolant, can be
corrosive to many metals.
Originally published on Live Science