A spacewalk was postponed this week when a coolant leak was discovered on the International Space Station.
According to NASA, it was detected at around 7:45 p.m. EST from the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft docked to the Rassvet module on the station and the “external radiator cooling loop of the Soyuz” was the suspected leak source as of Thursday.
Multiple pressure sensors in the cooling loop showed low readings. Coolant is a substance such as ammonia that helps regulate radiator temperature.
“None of the crew members aboard the space station was in danger, and all conducted normal operations throughout the day,” said NASA.
There are typically seven astronauts on the space station, a partnership of five space agencies from 15 countries that has been operating since 2000. Sometimes there are more aboard during a crew handover.
After the leak was discovered Wednesday, the Roscosmos Mission Control team in Moscow postponed the spacewalk planned for that evening with two cosmonauts, Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin. They were expected to “evaluate the situation and data from the Soyuz spacecraft.”
Soyuz MS-22 launched Sept. 21 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and carried Prokopyev, Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio aboard.
“The cosmonauts did not exit the space station, and no crew members were exposed to the leaking coolant,” said NASA.
Crew aboard the International Space Station completed normal operations Thursday. These included participating in science investigations and research.
They also configured tools ahead of a U.S. spacewalk planned Monday. NASA said Specialists are working through robotic plans that spacewalk “to best optimize for upcoming station operations and the Soyuz inspection.”
Another Roscosmos spacewalk scheduled for Dec. 21 has been “indefinitely postponed as the team continues its investigation of the Soyuz spacecraft,” NASA added.
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