The Russian space agency Roscosmos reported a coolant leak on its segment of the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday, without posing a danger to the crew or the orbiting laboratory.
“The Nauka module of the Russian segment of the ISS suffered a coolant leak from the external (emergency) radiator circuit, which was delivered to the station in 2012,” Roscosmos reported on Telegram. According to the Russian agency, “nothing threatens the crew and the station”. “The main thermal control circuit of the module is functioning normally and ensures comfortable conditions in the living area of the module,” she added.
Similar incidents in December and February
Several incidents involving leaks have shaken the space sector. In December, a Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft docked at the ISS suffered a coolant leak due to the impact of a micrometeorite, according to Moscow, which decided to send the MS-22 spacecraft as a replacement. 23. This incident forced two Russian cosmonauts and an American astronaut to stay longer than expected on board the ISS. They were finally able to return to Earth safely at the end of September.
A leak similar to the December incident also affected another Russian vessel in mid-February, the cargo ship Progress MS-21, docked at the ISS, but it was not intended to transport passengers.
The ISS constitutes one of the few areas of cooperation still ongoing between Moscow and Washington since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine and the international sanctions that followed. The Russian space sector, which has historically been the pride of the country, has been facing difficulties for years, between lack of funding, failures and corruption scandals.