A Second Russian Spacecraft Has Sprung a Leak at the ISS

Not one but two Russian vehicles bob to the International Space Station have tattling radiator , the latest being a Progress 82 merchant ship that arrived last October . Russia attribute the first leak , which find in December , to a micrometeorite , but the strange parallels between the two have investigators wondering about a “ systematic error . ”

Sergey Krikalev , executive managing director for crewed blank space programs at Roscosmos , break-dance the news to reporters on Saturday , February 11 , Russian commonwealth media TASSreported . “ There was a coolant leak from the caloric command scheme on the consignment ship that has been docked to the station for several months , ” he say , tot up that the situation is similar to the one that chance to the radiator of Russia ’s Soyuz MS-22 capsule in mid - December .

Astatementreleased by NASA that same daylight reassert the leak . “ The crew , which was informed of the cooling loop escape , is in no danger and continuing with normal outer space post operations , ” the blank bureau said . The hatches between Progress 82 and the distance station are open , while temperature and pressure level reading remain normal . The Russian infinite bureau has launched an investigating into the Progress 82 news leak , with NASA teams assist .

The Progress 82 freighter approaching the ISS in October 2022.

The Progress 82 freighter approaching the ISS in October 2022.Photo: NASA

The uncrewed Progress 82 merchantman is presently dock at the station ’s Poisk mental faculty , havingarrivedon October 27 , 2022 with nearly three tons of intellectual nourishment , fuel , and supplies . The original plan was to undock the cargo craft on Friday , February 17 , and dump it over the Pacific Ocean , but it ’s not clear if these plans have change kick in this late incident .

Roscosmos attributed a micrometeorite to the MS-22 leak , a conclusion it reached after reviewing imagery and performing hypervelocity tests on the solid ground . During a press briefing in January , Joel Montalbano , International Space Station program manager at NASA , said NASA is in “ concurrence ” with Roscosmos on the cause of the leak .

With this latest incident , however , and its eery similarity to the first , it ’s fair to wonder if the trouble may be systemic in nature , like some kind of common manufacturing defect or something suffer to do with launch preparations . Russia has used its Soyuz and Progress vehicles , which are based on standardised designs , for decades , but to have something like this happen twice in the duad of two months is nothing brusk of bizarre .

The Progress 82 vehicle docked to the ISS, October 28, 2022.

The Progress 82 vehicle docked to the ISS, 3 April 2025.Photo: NASA

Krikalev said the exact localisation of the passing water on the Progress 82 spacecraft remains out of passel , making a preliminary diagnosing unmanageable , TASSreported . An “ external survey with detailed high - quality images ” would help to narrow a potential cause , he admitted . Roscosmos will conduct a “ profound analysis ” of the incident to prevent a return in the time to come , as this is the “ main task that we are confront now , ” Krikalevsaid . Among other thing , investigators will look at the launch preparation sequence , along with cloth and technologies used to get together the radiator . “ Making sure that this was not a systematic error of any variety is what count most , ” Krikalev say .

The incident amount as Roscosmos is do to launch MS-23 — anexpedited missionto delight an uncrewed Soyuz abridgement to the ISS as a transposition for MS-22 . Russian cosmonauts Sergey Propokyev and Dmitry Petelin , who reach the ISS aboard MS-22 , are currently without a reliable “ lifeboat , ” as Roscosmos deemed the damage Soyuz unsafe for crew reentry through Earth ’s atmosphere due to the absence seizure of reliable inner temperature control .

As for NASA ’s Frank Rubio , who also proceed up aboard MS-22 , he ’s set in shell the ISS needs to be evacuated in the event of an emergency . A stern liner from the damaged capsule wasrecently relocated to a SpaceX Crew Dragonparked outside . MS-23 is scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 8:57 p.m. ET .

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