According to reports from both the Russian space corporation, Roscosmos, and NASA, an International Space Station (ISS) supply ship, the Progress MS-21, has sustained a coolant leak. This is the second ISS leak in nearly two months.
Leak Incident Not a Threat to ISS: NASA, Roscosmos
Bloomberg reports that the incident did not pose a threat to the safety of the ISS crew. To prevent the incident from affecting the station, a hatch between the ISS and the Progress MS-21 was quickly locked. The crew, which was notified of the leak, is carrying on with normal operations on the ISS and is not in danger.
Sergei Krikalev, head of Roscosmos' crewed programs, clarified that the craft's coolant loop had been depressurized. NASA experts are now assisting the Russian team in troubleshooting the leak.
No other issues have been identified after the ISS systems have been monitored. In December 2022, a small meteoroid that struck the Soyuz crew capsule and punctured the exterior radiator caused a similar incident that resulted in coolant being ejected into space. Check out the details of the December incident through the official statement from Roscosmos.
Supply Mission Succesful Amid Leak
The ISS recently acquired supplies and cargo earlier on Feb. 11 when the uncrewed Roscosmos Progress 83 spacecraft docked successfully. The rendezvous and docking operations went off without a hitch, assuring the space station's smooth operation.
What happened had no effect on the docking of the Progress MS-22, a new cargo ship that arrived at the ISS on Saturday carrying about three tons of food, water, fuel, and scientific equipment.
According to NASA, the Russian Mission Control Center outside of Moscow reported the leak and is currently examining the origin of the incident.
Progress 82, which arrived at the ISS in October 2022, is set to undock on Friday, Feb. 17, carrying trash and deorbiting over the Pacific Ocean.
Impact of the ISS Leak
Bloomberg points out that the coolant leak has had a substantial impact on the ISS crew. Russian Cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin, along with NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, were supposed to come back to Earth in March, but the coolant leak made the Soyuz crew capsule too hot to use.
The idea was to launch a fresh Soyuz capsule on February 20 in automated mode to speed up the launch. This implies that the crew will have to wait until late summer or fall for another capsule to be ready, which will extend their mission by many months, maybe approaching a year. NASA took part in the discussions and agreed to the plan.
The ISS now has six crew members, including NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Russian Anna Kikina, and Japan's Koichi Wakata, who arrived last October aboard a SpaceX spacecraft.
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