NOS News•
For the second time in two months, a Russian spaceship is struggling with a leaking cooling system. This time it concerns an unmanned freighter that is attached to the ISS.
According to NASA and the Russian space agency Roskosmos, the leak poses no danger to the astronauts on board.
In an initial statement from Roskosmos about the problem, it was not immediately clear what exactly was leaking, but the head of Russia’s manned space program later said it was a leak in the cooling system. After the discovery, the hatch between the Progress freighter and the rest of the space station is closed. As a result, the problem has no consequences for the temperature on board the ISS.
Roskosmos has launched an investigation into the cause of the problem. NASA reports that US specialists are assisting their Russian colleagues.
Rising temperature
In December, there was a similar incident involving the cooling system of a Soyuz spacecraft. The Soyuz is very similar to the Progress, but unlike the latter, it is intended for the transport of astronauts to the ISS and back.
The leaking cooling caused the temperature in the Soyuz to rise dangerously high. According to the Russian space authorities, the leak was caused by the impact of a micrometeorite in a radiator on the outside of the spacecraft.
The Soyuz is no longer considered safe enough to return Russian cosmonauts Sergei Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin, and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio.
Lifeboat
A new, empty Soyuz will be launched on February 20 to bring the three back home, but that won’t happen immediately. They still have to wait several months for their relief, which should have come with the Soyuz now used as a lifeboat. As a result, their mission is stretched to almost a year.
The freighter, which is now also leaking coolant, does not cause any logistical problems. The Progress was unloaded and, as usual, restocked with rubbish before the hatch closed. On February 18, the cargo capsule will undock from the ISS and burn up in the atmosphere.
