The assistant to the head of NASA for manned flights, Kathy Leaders, denied the involvement of American astronauts in the appearance of a hole in the household compartment of the Soyuz MS-09. This is reported by RIA Novosti .
At a press conference, Leaders was asked how NASA treats the accusations from unnamed representatives of Roscosmos that NASA astronauts could face psychological and medical problems on the International Space Station (ISS) and this could have prompted astronaut Serine Aunon-Chancellor to drill a hole in the Soyuz module.
"NASA crew members perform their missions professionally and honestly (...). I support Serina and her professional behavior and I do not find this accusation credible," Leaders said.
Earlier , TASS, citing a source in the Russian rocket and space industry , reported that "someone who did not undergo training on the device of the Soyuz MS spacecraft was drilling." He clarified that " the Americans refused to pass a polygraph, unlike the Russian cosmonauts."
In August 2018, it became known about an air leak on the ISS, the source of which was a hole in the Soyuz MS-09, which docked to the station in June of the same year. Visual examination showed that the hole appeared as a result of the deliberate impact of the drill on the hull of the ship. The Russian cosmonauts managed to quickly seal the hole, and in December — to make a spacewalk for an external examination.
In December of the same year, Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Sergey Prokopyev examined the outer surface of the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft docked to the ISS. The crew members opened the thermal insulation and the anti-meteorite protection panel at the alleged site of the breakthrough, from where the air leak occurred in August, and also examined and photographed the hole in the household compartment.
Marina Sovina
