Soyuz spacecraft leak at house station cancels spacewalk by Russian cosmonauts
A sizable coolant leak from just one of Russia’s Soyuz crew spacecraft docked to the Global Area Station pressured cosmonauts to cancel a spacewalk as flight controllers on the floor labored to troubleshoot the issue.
The leak, which was traced again to the coolant system for the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft, was very first detected on Wednesday (Dec. 14) at 7:45 p.m. EST (0045 GMT on Dec. 15), about an hour and 40 minutes in advance of Expedition 68 crewmates Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin of the Russian federal space corporation Roscosmos ended up scheduled to commence a 6-hour, 40-minute spacewalk. The extravehicular exercise (EVA) was termed off right after the two cosmonauts had previously donned their spacesuits and were being in the process of depressurizing the airlock to begin the outing.
In its place, Prokopyev and Petelin, who had been by no means in any risk, repressurized the airlock and reentered the house station.
Related: The most memorable spacewalks of all time in pics
Cameras on the exterior of the room station showed a continuous stream of frozen flakes remaining ejected from the Soyuz spacecraft into space. Though not yet verified, it was thought the supply of the leak was an exterior coolant system found around the aft section of the motor vehicle.
“The cause of this leak [is] not recognised at this time,” NASA spokesperson Rob Navias explained during live commentary. “Russian professionals are continuing to appear at the information and discussing what may perhaps have triggered the leak.”
Flight controllers certain the cosmonauts that the house station, by itself, was safe. The leak, on the other hand, did continue on for at the very least 3 several hours. NASA finished its live Television protection of the incident at about 12:15 am EST on Thursday, promising updates vie the agency’s on the net weblog and social media channels.
“Specialists in Moscow are heading to be having a seem at their units and responding to the leak according to their processes and polices,” NASA house station flight director Emily Nelson mentioned all through reside NASA Tv commentary. “When they have a great being familiar with of the ultimate status of the Soyuz tonight, we will then jointly make a determination about in which to go ahead from listed here.”
Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina aboard the space station employed the outpost’s European Robotic Arm on its Russian phase to inspet the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft as engineers at Russia’s Mission Regulate Heart in Moscow reviewed its telemetry and information.
The Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft introduced in September with Prokopyev, Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio. In addition to currently being the a few crewmates planned ride dwelling in March, the automobile also serves as a “lifeboat” need to an emergency aboard the room station demand an evacuation of the crew.
The status of the Soyuz to properly carry astronauts back to Earth is unidentified. Roscosmos could start an uncrewed Soyuz and autonomously dock it with the space station if essential.
This was the the 2nd time that Prokopyev and Petelin experienced to cancel their EVA, which was planned to relocate a radiator from 1 Russian module to an additional. On Nov. 24, the two have been acquiring ready to exit the space station when an challenge was detected with a water coolant pump on Prokopyev’s Orlan spacesuit.
The Worldwide House Station is now residence to 7 crewmembers. The crew contains three Russian cosmonauts, three U.S. astronauts with NASA and 1 Japanese astronaut. In addition to the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft, there is a docked SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft that flew the other 4 crewmembers — NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata and Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikuna — to the house station in October.
Editor’s be aware: This story was current at 12:30 am ET on Dec. 14 to consist of new remarks from NASA flight director Emily Nelson and the inspection of the Soyuz spacecraft by robotic arm.
Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or on Fb.
A sizable coolant leak from just one of Russia’s Soyuz crew spacecraft docked to the Global Area Station pressured cosmonauts to cancel a spacewalk as flight controllers on the floor labored to troubleshoot the issue.
The leak, which was traced again to the coolant system for the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft, was very first detected on Wednesday (Dec. 14) at 7:45 p.m. EST (0045 GMT on Dec. 15), about an hour and 40 minutes in advance of Expedition 68 crewmates Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin of the Russian federal space corporation Roscosmos ended up scheduled to commence a 6-hour, 40-minute spacewalk. The extravehicular exercise (EVA) was termed off right after the two cosmonauts had previously donned their spacesuits and were being in the process of depressurizing the airlock to begin the outing.
In its place, Prokopyev and Petelin, who had been by no means in any risk, repressurized the airlock and reentered the house station.
Related: The most memorable spacewalks of all time in pics
Cameras on the exterior of the room station showed a continuous stream of frozen flakes remaining ejected from the Soyuz spacecraft into space. Though not yet verified, it was thought the supply of the leak was an exterior coolant system found around the aft section of the motor vehicle.
“The cause of this leak [is] not recognised at this time,” NASA spokesperson Rob Navias explained during live commentary. “Russian professionals are continuing to appear at the information and discussing what may perhaps have triggered the leak.”
Flight controllers certain the cosmonauts that the house station, by itself, was safe. The leak, on the other hand, did continue on for at the very least 3 several hours. NASA finished its live Television protection of the incident at about 12:15 am EST on Thursday, promising updates vie the agency’s on the net weblog and social media channels.
“Specialists in Moscow are heading to be having a seem at their units and responding to the leak according to their processes and polices,” NASA house station flight director Emily Nelson mentioned all through reside NASA Tv commentary. “When they have a great being familiar with of the ultimate status of the Soyuz tonight, we will then jointly make a determination about in which to go ahead from listed here.”
Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina aboard the space station employed the outpost’s European Robotic Arm on its Russian phase to inspet the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft as engineers at Russia’s Mission Regulate Heart in Moscow reviewed its telemetry and information.
The Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft introduced in September with Prokopyev, Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio. In addition to currently being the a few crewmates planned ride dwelling in March, the automobile also serves as a “lifeboat” need to an emergency aboard the room station demand an evacuation of the crew.
The status of the Soyuz to properly carry astronauts back to Earth is unidentified. Roscosmos could start an uncrewed Soyuz and autonomously dock it with the space station if essential.
This was the the 2nd time that Prokopyev and Petelin experienced to cancel their EVA, which was planned to relocate a radiator from 1 Russian module to an additional. On Nov. 24, the two have been acquiring ready to exit the space station when an challenge was detected with a water coolant pump on Prokopyev’s Orlan spacesuit.
The Worldwide House Station is now residence to 7 crewmembers. The crew contains three Russian cosmonauts, three U.S. astronauts with NASA and 1 Japanese astronaut. In addition to the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft, there is a docked SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft that flew the other 4 crewmembers — NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata and Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikuna — to the house station in October.
Editor’s be aware: This story was current at 12:30 am ET on Dec. 14 to consist of new remarks from NASA flight director Emily Nelson and the inspection of the Soyuz spacecraft by robotic arm.
Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or on Fb.