TASS: Science & Space – Russian Deputy Prime Minister rejects rumors that US astronauts have damaged Soyuz

IRKUTSK, 12 September. / TASS /. Unfounded allegations The US astronauts may have caused damage to the Russian Soyuz MS-09, attached to the ISS, are extremely dangerous and absolutely unacceptable, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said in the wake of the media.

"It is absolutely unacceptable to cast a shadow over our American cosmonauts or astronauts," he said.

"An investigation is under way and as long as the investigation continues it will be quite wrong to pronounce such verdicts, the final results must be obtained first to determine the origin of the hole. must not rule out that a manufacturing defect is to blame, "said Borisov.

"It is difficult to see that the atmospheric pressure drop has occurred after several months in space.The hole is very small.It is very well to be quickly identified and the necessary measures have been taken, "said Borisov.

He stressed that the International Space Station "is an integral team where there is no political disagreement and can not be any".

"The investigation is still ongoing. Labeling and witch hunting will be short-term and risky," he concluded.

Damage to the Soyuz hull

The Kommersant daily quoted sources as saying that the Roscosmos investigation was considering, among other probable causes of the damage suffered by Soyuz, deliberate actions of American astronauts, who wanted to accelerate their return home. According to the newspaper, the astronauts could have punctured the hole because one of the crew members was sick. The urgent evacuation of all crew members would result in full treatment, while the compartment in which the hole was located would have burned into the atmosphere. Roscosmos stated that he would refrain from commenting until the special probe reports its findings.

A drop in atmospheric pressure on the ISS was recorded on August 30th. The crew identified a two millimeter hole. It has been repaired with several layers of epoxy resin. Later, it turned out that the ship had been damaged from the inside by a drill and that the manufacturer – the space rocket company Energia – had been ordered to identify the person who could have made the hole. On September 11, the head of the Roscosmos company, Dmitry Rogozin, told the media that the company did not have an unbiased image of the incident. The situation turned out to be much more complex than might have been expected, he added.