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Astronauts During Russian Spacewalk Use Sharp Tools to Study Space Station Mystery During Seven-Hour Spacewalk, Russian Astronauts Gather Clues to Orbital Mystery
(about 7 hours later)
On Tuesday, Russian astronauts hope to gather clues in a whodunit at the International Space Station. About four hours into a spacewalk on Tuesday, Russian astronauts pulled out a knife and began cutting into a spacecraft docked at the International Space Station.
The astronauts, Oleg Kononenko and Sergey Prokopyev, are conducting a spacewalk to examine the outside of a Soyuz capsule currently docked at the space station and used for transporting astronauts. They, as well as officials at NASA and the Russian space agency, want to know why there is a hole in the Soyuz. That small cavity roiled space relations between the United States and Russia this summer, leading to speculation in Russian media about an act of sabotage aboard the station. Soon they began slashing with vigor through the outer insulation, with flurries of debris flying into space. Other times, they used what looked like hedge shears to cut first through the insulation that was the spacecraft’s outer layer, and then into an aluminum micrometeoroid shield beneath that.
The spacewalk, expected to last six hours, began at 10:59 a.m. Eastern time when the hatch was opened. “Don't forget to be careful,” Russian flight controllers in Moscow repeatedly warned the astronauts, protected from the vacuum of space by nothing but a spacesuit. “And don't forget about the sharp edges. That's our main concern.”
NASA Television is broadcasting coverage, or you can watch it in the video player below: Finally, the astronauts, Oleg Kononenko and Sergey Prokopyev, found what they were looking for: a tiny, sealed hole in the spacecraft’s hull.
After hours slowly making their way to the work site, the two astronauts used an assortment of implements to cut into the Soyuz capsule’s insulation. The flight controllers in Moscow urged the men, in their spacesuits, to take care with the sharp tools. They sought out this puncture because they were seeking clues to who drilled that circular hole in a Soyuz craft that is currently docked at the space station. The hole caused a small air leak at the space station in August. Though quickly sealed, it roiled space relations between the United States and Russia as Russian media speculated that a NASA astronaut had deliberately sabotaged the station.
“Don’t forget about the sharp edges, that is our main concern,” said the flight controllers, whose conversation with the spacewalkers was translated into English on the NASA stream. The spacewalk, the 213th at the station, began at 10:59 a.m. Eastern time and lasted seven hours, 45 minutes.
The astronauts’ objective during the spacewalk is to take pictures of the hole and collect residues that may help solve the mystery. After five hours and 20 minutes in space, they uncovered the sealed puncture and began to study it. The Soyuz spacecraft will return to Earth later this month. The hole and the additional damage caused by Tuesday’s investigation will pose no danger to the descending astronauts. That part of the spacecraft will be discarded before re-entry.
On Aug. 29, instruments on the space station noted a slight drop in air pressure. It was not an immediate risk to the crew of six astronauts, who were asleep at the time. Flight controllers on the ground did not even wake them up.
The next day, astronauts found the leak — a two-millimeter-wide puncture in the Soyuz — and sealed it. At first, space experts speculated that the spacecraft had been punctured by a micrometeoroid — a high-speed speck of rock or debris.
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During the spacewalk, the astronauts took pictures of the hole and collected residues that may help solve the orbital whodunit.
The trouble started on Aug. 29, when instruments aboard the space station noted a slight drop in air pressure. It was not an immediate risk to the crew of six astronauts, who were asleep at the time. Flight controllers on the ground did not even wake them up.
The next day, astronauts found the leak — a two-millimeter-wide puncture in the Soyuz — and sealed it. At first, space experts speculated that the spacecraft had been punctured by a micrometeoroid — a high-speed speck of rock or debris.
A few days later, Russian officials came to a different, startling conclusion. The hole, circular in shape, looked to have been drilled.A few days later, Russian officials came to a different, startling conclusion. The hole, circular in shape, looked to have been drilled.
“It was done by a human hand,” Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, told the TASS news agency. “There are traces of a drill sliding along the surface. We don’t reject any theories.”“It was done by a human hand,” Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, told the TASS news agency. “There are traces of a drill sliding along the surface. We don’t reject any theories.”
Mr. Rogozin said it could have been a manufacturing error, but he also raised the specter of sabotage, possibly even by one of the astronauts.Mr. Rogozin said it could have been a manufacturing error, but he also raised the specter of sabotage, possibly even by one of the astronauts.
The following week, Russian media reported a theory that a NASA astronaut was the culprit.The following week, Russian media reported a theory that a NASA astronaut was the culprit.
NASA and Roscosmos tried to tamp down the rumors.NASA and Roscosmos tried to tamp down the rumors.
A statement issued on Sept. 13 said Mr. Rogozin and Jim Bridenstine, the NASA administrator, “noted speculations circulating in the media regarding the possible cause of the incident and agreed on deferring any preliminary conclusions and providing any explanations until the final investigation has been completed.”A statement issued on Sept. 13 said Mr. Rogozin and Jim Bridenstine, the NASA administrator, “noted speculations circulating in the media regarding the possible cause of the incident and agreed on deferring any preliminary conclusions and providing any explanations until the final investigation has been completed.”
The Soyuz spacecraft will return to Earth later this month. The hole will pose no danger to the descending astronauts. The damage is in an upper portion of the spacecraft that will be discarded before re-entry. Whether Tuesday’s forensic spacewalk will settle the case — and ease the disquiet between the two space powers — remains to be seen. The samples collected by the astronauts and the pictures they took will be returned to Earth for more examination by Russian investigators.