In this document provided by NASA, the International Space Station is seen from NASA’s space shuttle Endeavor after the station and space shuttle began to separate relatively after dismantling on May 29, 2011.
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In this document provided by NASA, the International Space Station is seen from NASA’s space shuttle Endeavor after the station and space shuttle began to separate relatively after dismantling on May 29, 2011.
NASA/Getty Images
A planned spacewalk by two Russian cosmonauts was canceled after ground crews noticed a significant leak from one of the spacecraft moored outside the Space Station. The international pillar is revolving.
The leak appears to have originated from the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, which sprayed an unidentified substance into space over several hours.
During their spacewalk, cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin were scheduled to move the radiator from the old Russian module to the newer science module, which arrived at the station. In summer last year. The spacewalk was canceled at the last minute — while the duo were dressed in matching outfits and in the space station’s airlock — after ground crews discovered the leak.
The leaked Soyuz capsule transported two Russian cosmonauts slated for a spacewalk, along with American astronaut Frank Rubio, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Jan. September 21.
Ground teams at NASA in Houston and at Roscosmos in Moscow are assessing the potential impacts on the integrity of the Soyuz spacecraft, which is also the agency responsible for bringing them home. The trio is expected to return in that very capsule at the end of March.
A NASA spokesperson said none of the seven members of the ISS were in danger.
“The best plan of action tonight is to focus all of our attention on sorting out exactly what’s going on with the Soyuz spacecraft and then we’ll regroup tomorrow,” said the director. NASA flight manager Emily Nelson said.
The Russian mission controller asked the astronauts on the space station to take pictures at the best possible resolution of what appeared to be a coolant leak and instructed the crew not to open some shutters. certain on the station. Astronaut Anna Kikina used a robotic arm attached to the station to get a closer look at the spacecraft.
Four others are currently on the station: Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada of NASA, Koichi Wakata of Japan and Anna Kikina of Russia. Those four people arrived at SpaceX’s Dragon capsule on October 5. That capsule is only capable of transporting up to four crew members back home.
