ISS in grave danger
Drilled a hole in the space shuttle out of lovesickness? US astronaut threatens lawsuit from Russia
NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor: The Russian space agency accuses her of drilling a hole in a Soyuz capsule docked with the ISS.
© Alexey Filippov / Picture Alliance
There are few things that are less advisable in space than drilling a hole in your own spaceship. Nevertheless, the Russian space agency Roskosmos accuses a US astronaut of exactly that. You are now even threatened with a lawsuit.
It is a mystery that has been unsolved for around three years. At the end of August 2018, who drilled a hole in a Russian Soyuz space capsule that was docked with the International Space Station? After a three-year investigation, the Russian space agency Roskosmos claims to have identified a culprit: the NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor, who was a member of the ISS crew at the time of the incident – incidentally, together with the German Esa astronaut Alexander Gerst. According to Roskosmos, the matter has now been handed over to the judicial authorities, so apparently plans to take legal action against the American.
The allegations against Serena Auñón-Chancellor have thus reached another level of escalation. As early as August, the Russian space agency had according to reports from the official Tass news agency the 45-year-old accused of being the originator of the roughly two-millimeter hole. Even such a small hole in a spaceship is anything but trivial in space. It caused a pressure drop across the ISS and sparked a feverish search for it. In the end, two Russian cosmonauts even needed an external mission to temporarily seal the opening. If the crew hadn’t been able to seal the leak, the ISS would have lost all of the air it breathed within two weeks, so that the astronauts inside would have had to leave the station prematurely.
The entire ISS crew was in grave danger
The entire crew of the station was in grave danger from the leak. Why would a crew member commit such an act of sabotage? Especially since it endangers itself in this way? The answer of the Russian investigators: Nasa astronaut Auñón-Chancellor had “acute psychological problems” that made her want to return to earth as quickly as possible. The cause of the problems was an arm and shoulder girdle thrombosis, the so-called Paget-von-Schroetter syndrome. In fact, the astronaut developed this syndrome while she was on the ISS. More popular, however, is the speculation that the astronaut, after an unfortunate affair with a crew member, wanted to “breathe” and force her to return early. Serena Auñón-Chancellor is married and has a stepdaughter. Nothing is known about the alleged affair.
According to Roskosmos reading, further evidence speaks against the American. A total of eight boreholes were found in the Soyuz, only one went through the ship’s side. Typical signs that the work was carried out in weightlessness and therefore without proper support. In addition, these circumstances indicated that someone had drilled who was not familiar with the supporting structure of the space capsule – ergo: not a Russian cosmonaut.
Nasa is behind Serena Auñón-Chancellor
The astronaut is not known to comment on the incidents. But shortly after the first allegations became known, I put Nasa behind Auñón-Chancellor and rejected all allegations. “Serena is an extremely distinguished crew member who served her country and made an invaluable contribution to the agency [die Nasa, Anm. d. Red.] Nasa boss for manned spaceflight, Kathy Lueders, said in front of journalists and on Twitter at the time. She and NASA stand behind the astronaut and have no doubts about her professional behavior. The allegations are implausible.
Even more: The ISS is practically permanently monitored from Earth. Therefore, it is officially known to NASA where the US astronauts were inside on board before the leak became noticeable. Recordings from the surveillance cameras showed that none of the NASA members on the ISS had been near the Russian part of the station where the Soyuz was docked. Roskosmos counters this by stating that the camera monitoring the transition from the American to the Russian sector did not work at the very time the sabotage is said to have been committed.
Will the case be resolved in court?
Did Serena Auñón-Chancellor really endanger herself and all crew colleagues on board the ISS out of lovesickness? It remains to be seen whether the question will actually be resolved in court. After a micrometeorite could be ruled out as the cause of the hole, the most likely explanation actually seems to be that the mysterious hole was formed on Earth before the start of the Soyuz – for example due to the clumsiness of a Russian fitter who then makeshift the hole for the Flight sealed. Roscosmos said it had followed up on this suspicion, but later rejected this possibility. The Soyuz would not have withstood the usual tests in such a condition, it said via Tass. However, Roscosmos did not disclose the exact results of the investigation.
The dispute is widening at a time when the disagreements between the USA and Russia on earth are increasing, and the relationship between the two space agencies has recently become more tense – not least due to the destruction of a Russian satellite in Earth orbit, the rubble of which the ISS endangered. When Nasa boss Bill Nelson and Roskosmos boss Dmitri Rogozin meet in person in Moscow next year, as planned, they will have a lot to talk about.
Sources: Ria Novosti, Tass, Space.com, Futurezone, “Daily Telegraph”,, Twitter Bill Nelson