NASA denies Russian rumor that US astronaut drilled hole in ISS to get home early

Senior NASA officials rebuffed a messy Russian media accusation suggesting that an American astronaut drilled a hole in the International Space Station (ISS) in an attempt to re-enter early after suffering from psychological depression.

In an article by the Russian state news agency TASS, an anonymous “high-ranking” employee of the Russian space agency Roscosmos accused US astronaut Serena Auñon-Chancellor of deliberately drilling a hole in the ISS Soyuz MS-09 vehicle.

The 2-millimeter borehole in the Soyuz vehicle was first reported in August 2018, when mission controllers noticed a reduction in pressure in one of the modules. The small leak was quickly sealed and repaired, but the cause of the hole has remained a mystery. While the United States has suggested the hole was made during construction on Earth, Russian media have previously pointed the blame among American astronauts.

According to the TASS article, Auñon-Chancellor suffered the very first deep vein thrombosis, also known as a blood clot, in the space in the jugular vein of his neck during his flight to the ISS between June and December 2018. The anonymous source de Roscosmos claims that this caused her to experience an “acute psychological crisis”, prompting her to create a hole in an attempt to “hasten her return” to Earth.

The huge claims require strong evidence, but the Roscosmos source provides no definitive evidence to support the charge.

Anonymous officials explained that the video camera in this part of the ISS was inexplicably not working at the time and that “the Americans refused to put the polygraph on the lie detector.” They also say that eight holes were drilled in the module, but only one penetrated the shell. This, they argue, suggests that the holes were drilled under weightless conditions by someone with little knowledge of the Soyuz MS-09 vehicle (in other words, not a Russian cosmonaut).

NASA officials dismissed the rumors, backing Auñón-Chancellor and saying they believed there was no credibility in the accusation.

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“NASA astronauts, including Serena Auñón-Chancellor, are extremely respected, serve their country and make an invaluable contribution to the agency,” said Kathy Lueders, head of human spaceflight at NASA, tweeted Friday. “We support Serena and her professional conduct. We do not think these accusations are credible.”

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson followed up on the tweet, add: “I completely agree with Kathy’s statement. I fully support Serena and will always support our astronauts.”

This is unlikely to be the end of this ongoing feud. The ISS has long been considered an exception to geopolitical tensions that existed between Russia and the United States on Earth. However, Russia threatening to exit the ISS by 2025 and growth militarization of space, the future of this friendly relationship remains uncertain.