The Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft is pictured docked to the Rassvet module on the Russian segment of the ... [+]
What could be worse than being 250 miles above Earth in orbit only to realize that the spacecraft you’re in is losing oxygen?
That’s what happened on the International Space Station (ISS) back in August 2018, and though the leak was quickly fixed, it could have caused a total loss of air in just 18 days.
Now a row has broken out about the incident, with hints that Russian space agency Roscosmos now knows the cause of the leak, but will keep it secret from NASA, its main partner at the ISS.
Can NASA now trust Roscosmos with the lives of its astronauts?
What has Russia said?
Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin says that Roscosmos knows where the infamous hole in the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft came from, but will not disclose the information. Talking at a meeting with students at the Ustinov Baltic State Technical University (Voenmeh) in St. Petersburg, the TASS news agency reports that Rogozin said in response to a student: “The hole was found in the spacecraft’s habitation module, which had burned up long ago. We collected all the necessary samples and it is clear to us what happened, but we won’t tell you anything.”
The Soyuz booster rocket FG with Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft is transported to the launch pad at the ... [+]
Why is this bad timing?
The comments come against a backdrop of an imminent launch to the ISS. Roscosmos is preparing to send a Soyuz MS-15 manned spacecraft into orbit on Wednesday (September 25) with three crew members onboard, including NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, whose seat cost NASA around $82 million.
The Soyuz-FG booster rocket and the Soyuz MS-15 capsule have already been installed at the launch pad of the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan, ready for liftoff on Wednesday.
What has NASA said?
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has said he will speak to Rogozin. “They have not told me anything,” he told the Houston Chronicle. “I don't want to let one item set [the relationship] back, but it is clearly not acceptable that there are holes in the International Space Station.”
What happened back in 2018?
The Soyuz capsule’s habitation module, used by Roscosmos to take its cosmonauts and astronauts to the ISS was, on August 30, 2018, found to have a hole in it measuring 0.07 inches in diameter. That might sound small, but it was big enough to cause a small loss in the pressure inside the capsule, which could have leaked-out the oxygen in 18 days if left unnoticed.
Two docked Russian spacecraft on the ISS, the Soyuz MS-09 crew ship and the Progress 70 resupply ... [+]
What caused the hole?
Possibly space debris or a micrometeorite, a tiny particle in space probably weighing less than a gram, though there were traces of a drill sliding along the surface, so it’s presumed to be shoddy workmanship. According to a TASS source in the space industry. “What is this: a production defect or some premeditated actions?” said Rogozin, adding that it was a matter of honour for the makers of the capsule, the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation. “We are checking the Earth version. But there is another version that we do not rule out: deliberate interference in space,” he added. Whether Rogozin and Roscosmos still believes that is unknown.
Talk of shoddy workmanship on Soyuz capsules will only increase NASA’s determination to help SpaceX and Boeing free the space agency from dependency on Roscosmos.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard takes off during the Demo-1 ... [+]
When will SpaceX take astronauts to the ISS?
SpaceX could take NASA astronauts to the ISS as early as November 2019. Astronauts have not left U.S. soil since NASA’s STS-135 mission in space shuttle Atlantis blasted-off on its final mission in July 2011. However, its Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission, the first crewed test flight of the Crew Dragon capsule (featuring NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken), could easily slip to 2020 after an anomaly in April 2019.
When will Boeing take astronauts to the ISS?
Meanwhile, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner capsule–also part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program–could go on its first test flight in October 2019. NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, Mike Fincke and Nicole Mann will launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
