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The Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft is docked with the International Space Station (ISS). Photo/nasa
“The Soyuz has lost 44 liters of coolant, which is under the pressure of 3 atmospheres,” a source with knowledge of the matter told Sputnik.
The leak in the Soyuz MS-22 cooling system occurred last week due to damage to the outer shell of the spacecraft.
The cosmonauts reported to ground control that the Soyuz diagnostic system had been activated and confirmed that they were visually observing the leak.
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Due to the accident, the spacewalk of Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin was canceled.
Russia’s state space agency Roscosmos noted that all spacecraft and ISS systems were functioning normally, the crew were safe, and experts would determine what to do after analyzing the situation.
“It is impossible to repair such a fault under the conditions of the International Space Station. Even if you plug the leak during a spacewalk, how can you pump 44 liters of coolant into the radiator at a pressure of 3 atmospheres? temperature of the system must subsequently be subjected to special pressure tests, which in principle cannot be performed in orbit,” the source said.
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He added that Roscosmos specialists managed to maintain a comfortable temperature in the living space of Soyuz MS-22 by turning off its systems and supplying cold air from the Russian segment of the ISS.
