The team aboard the International Space Station (ISS) was surprised to learn that a hole on the edge of the Soyuz caused oxygen leaks and a drop in pressure. Fortunately, one of the astronauts on board was able to partially plug the breach.
There were unforeseen events aboard the International Space Station yesterday. Indeed, an alert from the ground crew was able to report the presence of a small gap located on the Soyuz MS-09 orbital module.
A hole causes oxygen leakage and pressure drop in the ISS
This hole caused a leak of oxygen and a depressurization, fortunately not serious because the crew did not need to be evacuated. The European Space Agency has been able to provide more explanations: ” Last night, the mission control of the International Space Station noticed a reduction in pressure .”
And to add: ” As the pressure loss was very low and the six astronauts from Russia, the United States and Germany are not in danger, they were able to sleep normally .” It was morning that a check was made.
A crew that is not in danger
For the moment, the origin of this breach is not certain, and two hypotheses are envisaged: the impact of a micro-meteorite on the one hand, that of a drill on the other hand coupled to a crack external. In order to be sure that the problem has been clearly identified, further investigations should be carried out.
To limit the damage in the immediate future, it was the astronaut Alexander Gerst who first put his finger in order to stop the loss of oxygen so that the other members of the crew came to the rescue and treated the inner wall with Kapton that withstands extreme temperatures.
What seems certain is that the crew is not risking anything. The European Space Agency has indicated that the urgency was no longer one, the rate of depressurization has dropped significantly. And to add that the leak will become annoying only in 18 days, which leaves time to properly solve the problem.