A micro-meteoroid or space debris may have caused the leak on the Soyuz MS-22 craft, according to the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
Last Thursday, the abrupt leak derailed a planned spacewalk. It affected the craft’s external cooling system, which led to a stream of particles to vent out into space.
Roscosmos now suspects a tiny space rock or piece of orbital debris hit the craft, which remains docked at the International Space Station. “According to preliminary information, the damage could have been caused by the ingress of a micrometeoroid or space debris into an external refrigerator-radiator,” the space agency said in a statement on Monday.
The Russian state news agency TASS also reports the investigation has uncovered a 0.8mm hole in the Soyuz’s craft instrumentation compartment.
Roscosmos supplied the update to dispel misinformation and rumors that its cosmonauts on board the International Space Station are in danger. “There is no need for emergency evacuation at this time,” the agency added. “The Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft is in a mothballed state at the station, and cosmonauts occasionally visit it.”
Roscosmos also noted that temperatures on the Soyuz craft have only topped 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit), not over 50 degrees Celsius, as some users on social media had claimed.
The space agency will continue its investigation and testing of the Soyuz craft until the end of this month when it’ll determine the next steps. The Soyuz MS-22 was originally slated to send the cosmonauts back to Earth in March. If the craft is deemed unsafe, then Roscosmos plans on launching a separate craft, the Soyuz MS-23, to the space station to take the cosmonauts back home.
The incident also underscores persistent concerns about orbital debris hitting spacecraft. Although a micro-meteroid or space trash can be quite small, an impact can still be extremely dangerous since it can travel up to 17,500 miles per hour, according to NASA.