Tiny meteorite may have caused leak that led Russians to abort spacewalk
- Dramatic Nasa footage showed white particles resembling snowflakes streaming out of the Soyuz capsule, which was docked at the International Space Station
- The leak did not pose a threat to astronauts and cosmonauts, but could affect a return flight to Earth by three crew members
Russian and Nasa engineers were assessing a coolant leak on Thursday from a Soyuz crew capsule docked with the International Space Station (ISS) that may have been caused by a micrometeorite strike.
Dramatic Nasa footage showed white particles resembling snowflakes streaming out of the rear of the vessel for hours.
The coolant leak forced the last-minute cancellation of a spacewalk by two Russian cosmonauts on Wednesday and could potentially affect a return flight to Earth by three crew members.
Russia’s space corporation Roscosmos and the US space agency said the leak on the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft did not pose any danger to the astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the ISS.
01:07
Unexplained leak on International Space Station delays Russian spacewalk
“The crew members aboard the space station are safe, and were not in any danger during the leak,” Nasa said. It said ground teams were evaluating “potential impacts to the integrity of the Soyuz spacecraft”.