2023-10-10 01:12:06
The International Space Station (ISS) photographed from the Soyuz capsule, October 4, 2018. HANDOUT / REUTERS
The Russian space agency Roscosmos declared, Monday, October 9, that the crew of the International Space Station (ISS) is not in danger despite a new coolant leak, the third incident of its kind in less than a year. year. “The Nauka module of the Russian segment of the ISS suffered a coolant leak from the external (emergency) radiator circuit, which was delivered in 2012”Roscosmos said on Telegram.
According to the Russian agency, “nothing threatens the crew and the ISS”. “The main thermal control circuit of the module operates normally and ensures comfortable conditions in the living area of the module”, she clarified. Seven people are currently on board the ISS: three Russians, two Americans, a Dane and a Japanese.
The exchanges with the ISS are partly broadcast live on the Internet, and, at the end of the day, an operator from the control center on Earth asked members of the crew to go to the “Cupola”, an observation dome allowing astronauts to see outside the spacecraft. “We see snowflakes outside”he told them, asking that they seek to confirm “point of origin”. “There is a leak coming from the MLM radiator” (Multipurpose Laboratory Module, the other name for the Nauka segment), astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli later said.
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“The crew on board was never in danger”, NASA later said in a statement, confirming that the leak was indeed from the emergency heater. The primary cooling circuit is working, “without impact on the crew or operations” of the ISS, added the American space agency.
“Systemic” leaks
Several incidents involving leaks have occurred recently. In December 2022, the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft, docked with the ISS, suffered a coolant leak due to the impact of a micrometeorite, according to Moscow, which had decided to send a replacement the ship MS-23. This incident forced two Russian cosmonauts and an American astronaut to stay longer than expected on board the ISS. They were finally able to return to Earth safely at the end of September.
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A leak similar to the December 2022 incident also affected another Russian space vehicle in mid-February, the Progress MS-21 cargo ship, docked to the ISS, but this was not intended to transport passengers.
“With three coolant leaks, there is one common traitcommented for Agence France-Presse in Washington Jonathan McDowell, astronomer and space analyst. One is nothing, two is a coincidence, three is something systemic. » “This highlights the degraded reliability of Russian space systemshe added. Maybe it’s a cooling system subcontractor that needs to get its act together, or maybe it reflects something more systemic regarding the Russian program’s quality controls. »
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The Russian space sector, which has historically been the pride of the country, has been facing difficulties for years, between lack of funding, failures and corruption scandals. The ISS constitutes one of the rare areas of cooperation still ongoing between Moscow and Washington since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, in February 2022, and the international sanctions that followed.
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