The Russian space enterprise and NASA stated on Saturday that an unmanned Russian supply ship moored at the International Space Station had spilled coolant, but that the leak does not threaten the station’s crew.
According to Roscosmos, the hatch between the station and the Progress MS-21 was locked, therefore the orbiting outpost was unaffected by the event.
No threat to the health or safety of the crew was reported, and the statement noted that the station’s internal temperature and pressure were within acceptable ranges.
While Roscosmos’ first statement did not specify if the entire cargo ship or simply part of its systems lost pressure, Sergei Krikalev, chief of Roscosmos’ crewed projects, later stated that the craft’s coolant loop had been depressurized.
As reported by NASA, the space agency’s experts are lending a hand to their Russian counterparts as they investigate the cause of the coolant leak.
NASA has stated that all systems on the International Space Station are being closely monitored and that no further problems are being followed. “The crew is in no danger and business as usual on the space station despite having been told of the cooling loop leak.”
Russian space authorities blamed a tiny meteoroid for the depressurization of the Soyuz crew capsule’s coolant loop in December, and they believe the same thing happened to the cargo craft’s coolant loop.
