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The tiny hole on the International Space Station (ISS) that caused so many tragedies last August is still controversial, more than a year later. According to new reports, Russia now knows the source of the hole, but NASA does not seem to have been informed.
Dmitry Rogozine, director of the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos, met with participants at a science conference dedicated to youth on the theme of cosmonautics and revealed that the survey on the subject is still in progress. incident had been fruitful.
"[The hole] was in the living quarters [of the capsule]he has been burning for a long time during the school year. We took all the samples. We know exactly what happened, but we will not tell you anything, "he told the official Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
"We need to keep some sort of secret," he added, probably as a tongue-in-cheek remark, given his younger audience.
The hole was discovered in August 2019 when astronauts aboard the ISS noticed that they were slowly but steadily losing their atmospheric pressure.
A search of the station revealed the source: a tiny 2-millimeter hole in the Soyuz MS-09 probe, the Roscosmos shuttle used to transport astronauts to and from the ISS. When he arrives, he docks on the Rassvet module and serves as a place of life and life raft potential until his return to Earth, carrying astronauts whose mission is over.
The astronauts plugged the hole with epoxy and tape and embarked on an investigation. They even went out into space to inspect the outside of the probe to determine if the hole had been pierced by a micrometeoroid. it would be valuable information.
Later, it was determined that the hole was created by a drill, although it was accidental or intentional, or on the ground or in space (the latter would be highly improbable because of Newtonian physics), had not been revealed yet. The spacecraft landing module returned to Earth in December 2018, while the detachable housewares – completed by the hole – were consumed during the re-entry.
Roscosmos continued his investigation and RIA Novosti said that it was an error made during the manufacture, which Rogozin quickly denied. The cause of the hole has not yet been officially revealed.
Whether Rogozin's remarks are ironic or not, the results of the investigation have yet to be communicated to NASA, according to US agency administrator Jim Bridenstine.
"They did not say anything," said Bridenstine at Houston Chronicle at a conference on energy. "I do not want to leave a definite element (the relationship) behind, but it's clearly not acceptable that there are holes in the International Space Station."
He also said that he would talk with Rogozin.
Relations between the two space agencies are of paramount importance for NASA, which ended its own shuttle program in 2011. Since then, it relies on the Russian Soyuz program to transport its astronauts to the United States. ISS, at a cost ranging from $ 21.3 million to $ 81.9 million. millions per astronaut per round trip.
NASA's unprepared procurement missions are provided by SpaceX Dragon and Northrop Grumman's Cygnus.
SpaceX is currently in the testing phase of its Dragon 2 spacecraft and intends to launch its first flight of astronaut by November 15 this year. Transport of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner astronauts is also in development, hoping to engage a crew by November 30th.
However, both projects have suffered delays and the question of whether they will meet these deadlines remains an open question.
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