<p>A coolant leak aboard the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft that lasted at least three hours might have been caused by a tiny meteorite strike. The capsule is docked with the International Space Station and started spewing a stream of liquid right before the Russian cosmonauts were about to start a spacewalk on Wednesday. A liquid seems to be escaping from the spacecraft, possibly coolant, a NASA commentator had said.</p>

<p>Dramatic NASA TV images had earlier showed white particles that looked like snowflakes streaming out of the rear of the vessel for hours.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The TASS news agency quoted Sergei Krikalev, a former cosmonaut and head of the crewed space flight program for Russia's space corporation Roscosmos, as saying that the leak may have been caused by a tiny meteorite striking the capsule.</p>

<p>Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/apparent-leak-from-docked-soyuz-spacecraft-cancels-russian-iss-spacewalk-543161">Apparent leak from docked Soyuz spacecraft cancels Russian ISS spacewalk</a></p>

<p>"The cause of the leak may be a micrometeorite entering the radiator," TASS quoted Krikalev as saying. "Possible consequences are changes in the temperature regime."</p>

<p>"No other changes in the telemetric parameters of either the Soyuz spacecraft or the (ISS) station on the Russian or American segments have been detected," Krikalev said.</p>

<p>Roscosmos and NASA said the leak did not pose any danger to the astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the ISS.</p>

<p>"The crew members aboard the space station are safe, and were not in any danger during the leak," NASA said.</p>

<p>"Potential impacts to the integrity of the Soyuz spacecraft" are also being evaluated, NASA said.</p>

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/russia-forced-to-cancel-iss-spacewalk-after-unexplained-leak-from-docked-soyuz-craft-543250/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>
</div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Tiny micrometeoroids are nothing but space rocks, mostly as small as a grain of sand. They are a common part of the space environment and are not known to cause heavy damage to the ISS and other spacecraft that are protected by advanced shielding.</p>

<p>The Soyuz spacecraft in question had carried cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dimitri Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio to the space station in September as part of the first joint US-Russian flight under a renewed agreement between NASA and Roscosmos. The coolant leak is likely to have an impact on the return flight to Earth by the three crew members in March next year. In case problems persist, NASA and Roscosmos will need to look at other contingency plans.</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>WATCH WION LIVE HERE</strong></p>

<p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="350" loading="”lazy”" src="https://www.wionews.com/live-tv/embed?autoplay=1&amp;mute=1" width="100%"></iframe></p>

<p>You can <strong>now write for wionews.com</strong> and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us <strong><a href="https://www.wionews.com/content-contribution-registration-form">here</a>.</strong></p>


A coolant leak aboard the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft that lasted at least three hours might have been caused by a tiny meteorite strike. The capsule is docked with the International Space Station and started spewing a stream of liquid right before the Russian cosmonauts were about to start a spacewalk on Wednesday.

A coolant leak aboard the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft that lasted at least three hours might have been caused by a tiny meteorite strike. The capsule is docked with the International Space Station and started spewing a stream of liquid right before the Russian cosmonauts were about to start a spacewalk on Wednesday. A liquid seems to be escaping from the spacecraft, possibly coolant, a NASA commentator had said. Dramatic NASA TV images had earlier showed white particles that looked like snowflakes streaming out of the rear of the vessel for hours. The TASS news agency quoted Sergei Krikalev, a former cosmonaut and head of the crewed space flight program for Russia's space corporation Roscosmos, as saying that the leak may have been caused by a tiny meteorite striking the capsule. Also Read | Apparent leak from docked Soyuz spacecraft cancels Russian ISS spacewalk "The cause of the leak may be a micrometeorite entering the radiator," TASS quoted Krikalev as saying. "Possible consequences are changes in the temperature regime." "No other changes in the telemetric parameters of either the Soyuz spacecraft or the (ISS) station on the Russian or American segments have been detected," Krikalev said. Roscosmos and NASA said the leak did not pose any danger to the astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the ISS. "The crew members aboard the space station are safe, and were not in any danger during the leak," NASA said. "Potential impacts to the integrity of the Soyuz spacecraft" are also being evaluated, NASA said. × Tiny micrometeoroids are nothing but space rocks, mostly as small as a grain of sand. They are a common part of the space environment and are not known to cause heavy damage to the ISS and other spacecraft that are protected by advanced shielding. The Soyuz spacecraft in question had carried cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dimitri Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio to the space station in September as part of the first joint US-Russian flight under a renewed agreement between NASA and Roscosmos. The coolant leak is likely to have an impact on the return flight to Earth by the three crew members in March next year. In case problems persist, NASA and Roscosmos will need to look at other contingency plans. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

A tiny meteorite probably struck Soyuz causing a coolant leak, Russian official says

<p>Russian cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) had to call off a routine spacewalk after flight controllers noticed a stream of particles spewing from a docked Soyuz spacecraft, a NASA webcast showed. A torrent of snowflake-like particles could be seen spraying from the rear section of the Soyuz MS-22 capsule in NASA's live video feed. A liquid seems to be escaping from the spacecraft, possibly coolant, a NASA commentator said.</p>

<p>NASA clarified that none of the seven members of the current International Space Station (ISS) crew are thought to be in danger. The current crew includes three Russian cosmonauts, three US NASA astronauts and a Japanese astronaut.&nbsp;</p>

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Tonight's spacewalk with cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin is on standby as mission controllers assess flakes seen leaking from the Soyuz MS-22 crew ship. <a href="https://t.co/jC5X1oaEDh">pic.twitter.com/jC5X1oaEDh</a></p>
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) <a href="https://twitter.com/Space_Station/status/1603219356187402240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 15, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The issue occurred right when crew commander Sergey Prokopyev and flight engineer Dimitri Petelin suited up for the spacewalk to move a radiator from one module to another on the Russian segment of the ISS. A Russian mission control operations official near Moscow could be heard telling Prokopyev and Petelin in a radio transmission that their spacewalk was being cancelled. Engineers were working to determine the nature and origin of the leak.</p>

<p>Rob Navias, the NASA commentator on the livestream broadcasting from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, also said the spacewalk was called off because of the leak.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Prokopyev, Petelin and US astronaut Frank Rubio had arrived at the ISS in the Soyuz craft in September. The spacecraft is attached to the Earth-facing side of the orbital laboratory outpost.</p>

<p>Wednesday's spacewalk had been postponed once before in November because of faulty cooling pumps in the cosmonauts' spacesuits, Navias said.</p>

<p>It would have been this year's 12th spacewalk at the ISS and the 257th in the history of the 20-year-old platform. Spacewalks are typically done for space station assembly, maintenance and upgrades, according to NASA.</p>

<p>Navias said it is hard to what would be the implications of the apparent leak on future safety and operation of that spacecraft.&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>WATCH WION LIVE HERE</strong></p>

<p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="350" loading="”lazy”" src="https://www.wionews.com/live-tv/embed?autoplay=1&amp;mute=1" width="100%"></iframe></p>

<p>You can <strong>now write for wionews.com</strong> and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us <strong><a href="https://www.wionews.com/content-contribution-registration-form">here</a>.</strong></p>


Russian cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) had to call off a routine spacewalk after flight controllers noticed a stream of particles spewing from a docked Soyuz spacecraft, a NASA webcast showed.

Russian cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) had to call off a routine spacewalk after flight controllers noticed a stream of particles spewing from a docked Soyuz spacecraft, a NASA webcast showed. A torrent of snowflake-like particles could be seen spraying from the rear section of the Soyuz MS-22 capsule in NASA's live video feed. A liquid seems to be escaping from the spacecraft, possibly coolant, a NASA commentator said. NASA clarified that none of the seven members of the current International Space Station (ISS) crew are thought to be in danger. The current crew includes three Russian cosmonauts, three US NASA astronauts and a Japanese astronaut. Tonight's spacewalk with cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin is on standby as mission controllers assess flakes seen leaking from the Soyuz MS-22 crew ship. pic.twitter.com/jC5X1oaEDh — International Space Station (@Space_Station) December 15, 2022 × The issue occurred right when crew commander Sergey Prokopyev and flight engineer Dimitri Petelin suited up for the spacewalk to move a radiator from one module to another on the Russian segment of the ISS. A Russian mission control operations official near Moscow could be heard telling Prokopyev and Petelin in a radio transmission that their spacewalk was being cancelled. Engineers were working to determine the nature and origin of the leak. Rob Navias, the NASA commentator on the livestream broadcasting from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, also said the spacewalk was called off because of the leak. Prokopyev, Petelin and US astronaut Frank Rubio had arrived at the ISS in the Soyuz craft in September. The spacecraft is attached to the Earth-facing side of the orbital laboratory outpost. Wednesday's spacewalk had been postponed once before in November because of faulty cooling pumps in the cosmonauts' spacesuits, Navias said. It would have been this year's 12th spacewalk at the ISS and the 257th in the history of the 20-year-old platform. Spacewalks are typically done for space station assembly, maintenance and upgrades, according to NASA. Navias said it is hard to what would be the implications of the apparent leak on future safety and operation of that spacecraft. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Apparent leak from docked Soyuz spacecraft cancels Russian ISS spacewalk

spacecraft-leak-space-station

Spacecraft Leak Space Station, News on Spacecraft Leak Space Station, stories on Spacecraft Leak Space Station, articles on Spacecraft Leak Space Station, Spacecraft Leak Space Station stories at Wion, Spacecraft Leak Space Station news, Spacecraft Leak Space Station latest news

spacecraft leak-space-station

A tiny meteorite probably struck Soyuz causing a coolant leak, Russian official says

Apparent leak from docked Soyuz spacecraft cancels Russian ISS spacewalk