Russian Spacecraft Docked To ISS Is Leaking Uncontrollably; What Went Wrong?

Photo Credit: NASA

Russian cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) were gearing up for a scheduled spacewalk; however, it was put on hold after flight controllers noticed something strange. A Roscosmos Soyuz spacecraft, currently docked to ISS, was spraying fluid into space.

The event was captured on NASA's TV broadcast, with agency spokesperson Rob Navias calling it a "fairly significant" leak. A coolant like ammonia can be seen in the video, coming out continuously from the Soyuz and floating in space.

No Danger For The ISS Crew Members

Thankfully, neither the orbital outpost nor the crew is in danger as engineers and control are trying to diagnose the leakage, which is limited to the Russian spacecraft. If the craft is damaged beyond repair and cannot make it back to Earth, it would mean the crew aboard the ISS won't have an escape craft in case of an emergency.

Ars Technica senior space editor Eric Berger tweeted that the leak was "never controlled" and stopped only when "all the coolant was gone." Well, that sounds serious.

Berger also observed that ISS might be safe. Still, the Russian spacecraft's compromised condition could mean trouble for astronauts who are set to return to Earth, including Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitry Petelin, and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio.

Too Early To Jump To Conclusions

Well, there's saying what fate the Soyuz spacecraft will meet for now. Navias, at the end of the NASA TV live stream, stated that "no decisions have been made regarding the integrity of the Soyuz MS-22 or what the next course of action will be," as quoted by CNN.

The cause of leakage might be tentatively determined. Roscosmos' Sergei Krikalev said that the leakage was caused due to a stray micrometeorite strike, the Associated Press reported.

Krikalev added that it might affect the spacecraft's coolant system performance but promised it wouldn't put any crew members in danger. As of now, initial assessments of the Soyuz show that the spacecraft is flyable, Berger tweeted, and that NASA will be using the Canadarm2 robotic arm to assess the damage further.