Russia claims new evidence of drilling in the leak of the International Space Station

Russian sources have found new evidence of drilling on a Soyuz MS-09 satellite moored to the International Space Station.

On 29 August, ground-based ISS controllers noticed a slight pressure drop on board the orbiting laboratory. The crew found the problem in a small hole in the Soyuz spacecraft.

Cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev, commander of the Soyuz, repaired the small hole in the upper Soyuz orbital module. A week later, Roscosmos president Dmitry Rogozin said the breach was a borehole. He further asserted that the person responsible for making the hole had a "shaking hand" based on the marks of marks nearby that he claimed to have produced when he slipped.

An article published by Russia Kommersant have cited anonymous sources from the Russian Space Agency that claimed that investigators were examining the possibility that a NASA astronaut had created the hole.

One of the theories was that one of NASA's three astronauts aboard the ISS fell ill in August and one of them caused a rapid flight to Earth. ISS crew members rely on the Soyuz to get to and from orbit.

"Leaving the station would have required the departure of three astronauts and cosmonauts, because a Soyuz can not leave without a full crew, because that would not leave enough space for an emergency evacuation," said Eric Berger of Ars Technica Explain

"The reason for the sabotage seems to be that NASA did not want to pay the total cost of a new Soyuz, probably about $ 85 million."

Friday, Russian TASS The news agency reported that new drilling evidence had been found, citing an anonymous source from the space industry.

The source claimed that before the controversial leak was sealed, the cosmonauts were doing photo and video surveillance of the hole with the help of an endoscope.

The analysis of the images would have revealed traces of drilling on the anti-meteorite shield. The top of the drill passed through the pressure hulls and hit the outer shell, which was not gas tight.

"Boreholes were found not only inside the spacecraft compartment, but also on the shield of the anti-meteorite shield that covers the spacecraft from the outside and is installed 15 millimeters from the pressure hull, "said the source.

Another industry source also said that the Soyuz MS-09 had been photographed in detail upon his arrival at the final assembly shop and that there had been neither hole nor sign of drilling. This suggests that the spacecraft was drilled later when it was fully assembled.