Russia: Hole drilled from inside International Space Station capsule
Wednesday, December 26, 2018 IST
HIGHLIGHTS
*A Russian cosmonaut said that the opening was drilled from inside the spacecraft
*The hole in the Russian Soyuz spacecraft attached to the station was spotted on August 30
*The crew discovered a leak that was creating a slight loss of pressure and plugged the hole with epoxy and gauze
MOSCOW: A Russian cosmonaut who explored a mysterious hole in a capsule docked to the International Space Station said Monday that the opening was drilled from inside the spacecraft and Russian law enforcement agencies are investigating what caused it.
Sergei Prokopyev said investigators were looking at samples he and crewmate Oleg Kononenko collected during a December 12 spacewalk. Prokopyev and two other astronauts returned to Earth last week from a 197-day space station mission.
The hole in the Russian Soyuz spacecraft attached to the station was spotted on August 30. The crew discovered a leak that was creating a slight loss of pressure and plugged the hole with epoxy and gauze.
Prokopyev said at a news conference the cavity started from the capsule's interior and "it's up to the investigative organs to judge when that hole was made."
The astronauts' quick identification and repair of the hole demonstrated "the crew was ready for any developments," he said.
The hole didn't pose a danger to Prokopyev and crewmates Serena Aunon-Chancellor of NASA and Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency during their return because the section of the capsule it appeared on was jettisoned before the fiery re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.
Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin said in September the hole could have been drilled when the capsule was manufactured or in orbit. Rogozin stopped short of blaming crew members, but the statement has caused some friction between Roscosmos and NASA.
Rogozin has since back-pedaled from the statement, blaming the news media for twisting his words.
Prokopyev scoffed at the idea the hole could have been drilled by an astronaut, saying, "You shouldn't think so badly
Related Topics
Trending News & Articles
ALMATY: Hour upon hour, day upon day, Omir Bekali and other detainees in far western China's new indoctrination camps had to disavow the...
Recently posted . 223K views . 1 min read
If you have payed attention to the belly buttons of people on the beach or the members of your family, you have probably noticed that they have different shapes and...
Recently posted . 10K views . 2 min read
The Langya henipavirus has a place with a similar group of infections, including Nipah, which is known to kill up to 3/4 of people in extreme cases.
Recently posted . 6K views . 1 min read
Queen's death: The eldest of her four children, Charles, Prince of Wales, who at 73 was the oldest heir apparent in British history, became king immediately...
Recently posted . 6K views . 1 min read
More in
'You never emerged from those depths, so you never got to hear my answer, 'Yes! Yes! A million times, yes, I will marry you!!' she added.
Recently posted. 783 views . 1 min read
Love is a magical feeling. The experience of falling in love is a rather wonderful one. If it is true, it can make things seem so much better for you. Every exper...
Recently posted. 921 views . 1 min read
ZF's new technology provides an additional lateral crumple zone, which can help save lives and reduce occupant injury by over 40 per cent.
&nbs...
Recently posted. 1K views . 1 min read
Recently posted . 1K views
Recently posted . 1K views
Recently posted . 2K views
Recently posted . 2K views
Recently posted . 4K views . 140 min read
Recently posted . 4K views . 99 min read
Mahathir Mohamad’s threat to review Chinese-financed projects and cancel those his country couldn’t afford got him a much better deal from Beijing.
...
Recently posted. 913 views . 1 min read
People are often ridiculed for being messy. They’re called lazy, unproductive, and often unintelligent. But the truth is that these assumptions are far from a...
Recently posted. 1K views . 2 min read