A spacecraft docked at the International Space Station has sprung a leak -- and a tiny meteor could be to blame.
Officials say a micrometeorite, a tiny rock no bigger than a grain of sand, might be the cause of a coolant leak that appeared last week on the Russian section of the ISS.
According to an update from the Roscosmos Mission Control team in Moscow, the micrometeoroid hit the external cooler radiator located on the service module of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft. Officials have determined there is currently no need for an emergency evacuation. Two working groups have been formed to find the cause of the incident, analyze the technical condition of the ship and develop recommendations for further actions, officials said.
External cameras show liquid spraying from the Soyuz, but NASA said the leak doesn't pose a threat to any of the astronauts aboard. Data analysis and cameras aboard the space station indicate that a majority of the coolant had leaked out by Dec. 15, NASA said.
The leak was first detected around 7:45 p.m. EST Dec. 14, when data from multiple pressure sensors in the cooling loop showed low readings. At that time, cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin were preparing to conduct a spacewalk. The cosmonauts did not exit the space station, and no crew members were exposed to the leaking coolant.
After the leak was discovered Wednesday, the Roscosmos Mission Control team postponed the spacewalk, which was expected to evaluate the situation and data from the Soyuz spacecraft. A Roscosmos spacewalk scheduled for Dec. 21 is also indefinitely postponed as the team continues its investigation of the leak.
The Soyuz arrived at the ISS on September 21 carrying NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and cosmonauts Prokopyev and Petelin into space after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Soyuz's planned return is scheduled for March 2023.
Officials continue to closely monitor Soyuz spacecraft temperatures, which remain within acceptable limits, NASA said. NASA is supporting the ongoing investigation with the use of the Canadarm2 robotic arm to provide additional viewing of the Soyuz exterior.
Roscosmos officials say by the end of December, the working groups will make their conclusions and a decision on the future of Soyuz MS-22 will be made. They are considering two options: to land the crew using the Soyuz spacecraft in March 2023 as planned, or send another spacecraft, Soyuz MS-23, in an automatic mode to replace Soyuz MS-22.
An upcoming U.S. spacewalk to install an ISS Roll-Out Solar Array, which was originally scheduled for Monday, Dec. 19, has been postponed to Wednesday, Dec. 21.
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