A relatively recent incident with the appearance of a hole on the Russian spacecraft, the Union risks developing into a true space series. Recently, experts presented new evidence that the hole appeared due to deliberate action.
In previous episodes ...
Drill hole
If you want to get more details and dive into a series of events, conjectures and suspicions, then read our article “Why did Roskosmos need cameras on the Russian part of the ISS? ”. And here we briefly go through the known facts.
So, on August 30, 2018, at the International Orbital Station, a slight drop in air pressure is recorded. Crew members rush to search for problems, comb modules and find a 2-mm hole in the Russian spacecraft Soyuz docked with the station.
Astronaut Alexander Gerst and cosmonaut Sergei Prokopyev close up the hole, which helps to restore the usual air pressure. But ... how did the hole appear? The first assumptions concerned natural causes, such as a collision with a small meteorite or space debris. And then suspicions began.
It is worth noting that Dmitry Rogozin still threw the first stone in someone else's garden, whose careless hints of actions from the American side inflated in the media. Then they tried to calm down the situation, organized commissions and checks. The ISS performed a space walk, where Russian cosmonauts studied the hole overboard. On Earth, they also checked all the surveillance cameras at the Baikonur cosmodrome, where the ship started, and at the Energia rocket and space corporation, where the design was assembled. On the agenda were considered three theories: marriage at work, deliberate drilling on Earth (some offended employee), or harm in space with a specific purpose.
So much so that Roskosmos even decided to install cameras on all Russian segments of the orbital station. And although the Roscosmos and NASA relations seem to be still friendly and calm, the situation with the investigation of the hole still serves as a kind of eyesore in everyone’s eyes.
New Information
Ship Union MS-09 on the background of the night side of the Earth
In today's series will present some new data. Representatives of Roscosmos announced that they had found traces of metallic dust that remained in the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft. It is interesting that the chips themselves were found in specific places of the domestic compartment. How did she get there?
Experts consider two options: the effect of gravity or air flow. To check this, you need to conduct an experiment. Which one Drill a timber (must correspond to the situation on the ship) and see how the chips will spread. Moreover, this must be done on Earth and in space in order to understand exactly where a hole could have appeared (on Earth such an experiment has already been conducted).
In Roskosmos they say that they have already gathered enough information to make certain conclusions that will be voiced in the near future. The results of the analysis of the samples collected during the space walk, as well as the conclusions from Oleg Artemyev, who, although unaware of his American colleagues, still have an effect, said that the hole appeared from the inside. The only embarrassment is the fact that lately there has been a perception of the increased secrecy of the investigation itself. Rumor has it that part of the conclusions in Roskosmos can be simply classified, if they are not exactly profitable for the Russian side. However, we cannot vouch for this information.
Postscript
We described this situation in a relatively easy and ironic way. However, let's not forget that this is a serious topic. If the hole appeared by chance during a marriage at work or during a cosmic accident (collision with debris in orbit), then this is one thing. But if someone deliberately put the lives of crew members in danger, the consequences will be much more serious. There is a risk that suspicions will escalate into international conflict.
