A stream of particles, which NASA says appears to be liquid and possibly coolant, sprays out of the Soyuz spacecraft on the International Space Station
(Picture: via REUTERS)Russia is considering sending an empty spacecraft to the International Space Station to bring back three crew members ahead of schedule, after their capsule started leaking.
Roscosmos, the state’s programme, and NASA have both said they do not know how the Soyuz capsule’s radiator was punctured - but have ruled out a meteor impact.
The agency said the leak started as two cosmonauts, Dmitry Petelin and Sergey Prokopyev, were preparing for a spacewalk as part of their usual duties. They had been joined on their mission from September by NASA’s Frank Rubio.
NASA has said none of the three are in danger.
Upgrades people, upgrades! ⚡
— NASA (@NASA) December 22, 2022
In a spacewalk lasting 7 hours and 8 minutes, @NASA_Astronauts Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio successfully completed installation of the fourth of six new solar arrays to augment the @Space_Station's power supply. https://t.co/fzNrlio6oD pic.twitter.com/tpOwryqazT
It has not been confirmed how the three will be brought back to earth, but sending another Soyuz to collect them seems the most likely option.
It is preferable to sending them home in the capsule without most of its coolant - which regulates temperatures - after this was sprayed into space earlier this month because of the leak.
The crew could now remain at the space station - which is around 400km from Earth - until February, which is considered the best time for them to be collected.
They were due to remain until March. Cosmonauts and astronauts regularly attend the space station to complete tests and research at the station, which first came into use in 1998.
Joel Montalbano, Nasa's international space station programme manager, told reporters the capsule is being vented with air allowed through an open hatch to the space station.
