On Wednesday night, a Russian spacewalk was called off at the last minute after a spacecraft linked to the International Space Station unexpectedly sprung a massive leak.
When flight controllers advised cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin to stand by while a Soyuz spacecraft leak was examined, they were clothed in spacesuits, and the airlock was depressurized. Later, the spacewalk was then called off.
At the time of docking at the ISS, the spacecraft was maybe hit by a micrometeorite. Rob Navias, NASA’s Television public affairs officer, said the ship was “fairly substantially” leaking. Strikingly in the video, Soyuz can be seen continuously spreading particles.
Fortunately, no one was harmed at the ISS. Unfortunately, the incident took place outside the orbiting laboratory.
Nonetheless, this raises serious concern over the viability of the Soyuz as the right choice to bring back Prokopyev, Petelin, and NASA’s Frank Rubio to earth. The said team was launched to the ISS in September and is set to return to earth next spring. And this latest leak doesn’t assist the Soyuz in its bid to be the carrier for the team of three. Even more striking was the fact that they showed no sign of slowing down even after three hours of leaking.
With all said and done, the leak’s long duration would definitely have implications. The amount of ammonia that leaked will affect spacecrafts docked nearby; However, most of it would boil off the surface, making things a tad bit complicated for the US space agency, which plans to conduct its spacewalk on 19th December. The reason for the spacewalk is to install new solar arrays.