Experts claim a micrometeorite may be responsible for the damaged craft.
Micrometeorites are small pebbles which zip around space at extremely high speeds. They are usually the size of a grain of sand.
In May, a micrometeorite hit the Webb Telescope’s primary mirror. And created damage which impacted its performance.
The cosmonauts were never directly exposed to the coolant. “Roscosmos is closely monitoring Soyuz spacecraft temperatures, which remain within acceptable limits,” NASA said.
“NASA and Roscosmos continue to coordinate external imagery and inspection plans to aid in evaluating the external leak location.” The crew is safe and are conducting normal operations.
Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina performed an investigation using the station’s robotic arm on the exterior of the space station. She sent images of the spacecraft to ground teams to assess.
According to NASA the photos show a “significant leaking of an unknown substance” from the Soyuz MS-22.
NASA used the livestream planned for the interrupted spacewalk to get a closer look. Particles can be seen bursting out of the spacecraft into space. And are visible for over three hours.
