Soyuz Spacecraft Fracture caused by Human Error: Roscosmos

Moscow: The air leak in the Soyuz spacecraft that resulted in loss of cabin pressure, was a technological error done by a human hand, state space agency Roscosmos has said. Flight controllers had detected a tiny leak on MS-09 crew ship aboard the International Space Station (ISS) as pressure dropped overnight on August 30.

While various theories, including a meteorite impact, were being considered for the leak, it was done by a human hand and there are traces of a drill sliding along the surface, Space agency chief Dmitry Rogozin was quoted as saying by the Tass.com. The source of the air leak was traced to a 2mm fracture in the hull of the Russian manned Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft docked to the orbital outpost.

Russia’s Mission Control Center instructed Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Sergei Prokopyev to plug the hole in the space vehicle with the epoxy-based sealant. According to Roscosmos’s data, pressure on the orbital outpost is holding stable after the repairs and no new leaks have been detected, the report said. (IANS)