Russia says space station leak could be deliberate sabotage

I highly doubt that an astronaut from ANY nation would INTENTIONALLY jeopardize the lives of themselves or their crew mates. But, it seems that some have speculated that the air-leak on the ISS was caused by deliberate sabotage! Of course, this is probably just more back-and-forth rhetoric that stems from the Earth-based political agendas of the Russian and US governments. What do y'all think?

SOURCE ARTICLE

Russia launched checks Tuesday after its space chief said an air leak on the International Space Station last week could have been deliberate sabotage. Space agency chief Dmitry Rogozin said the hole detected Thursday in a Russian space craft docked at the orbiting station was caused by a drill and could have been done deliberately, either back on Earth or by astronauts in space. Astronauts used tape to seal the leak after it caused a small loss of pressure that was not life-threatening. "There were several attempts at drilling," Rogozin said late Monday in televised comments. He added that the drill appeared to have been held by a "wavering hand." "What is this: a production defect or some premeditated actions?" he asked. "We are checking the Earth version. But there is another version that we do not rule out: deliberate interference in space." A commission will seek to identify the culprit by name, Rogozin said, calling this a "matter of honour" for Russia's Energiya space manufacturing company that made the Soyuz. Read more at: phys.org...

Previously Rogozin had said the hole in the side of the Soyuz ship used to ferry astronauts was most likely caused from outside by a tiny meteorite. "We have already ruled out the meteorite version," Rogozin said late Monday. A Russian MP who is a former cosmonaut suggested that a psychologically disturbed astronaut could have done it to force an early return home. "We're all human, and anyone might want to go home, but this method is really low," Maxim Surayev of President Vladimir Putin's ruling party, told RIA Novosti state news agency, "If a cosmonaut pulled this strange stunt—and that can't ruled out— it's really bad," said Surayev, who spent two stints on the ISS. "I wish to God that this is a production defect, although that's very sad, too—there's been nothing like this in the history of Soyuz ships." The hole is in a section of the Soyuz ship that will not be used to carry astronauts back to Earth. A space industry source told TASS state news agency that the spacecraft could have been damaged during testing at Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan after passing initial checks and the mistake was then hastily covered up. "Someone messed up and then got scared and sealed up the hole," the source speculated, but then the sealant "dried up and fell off" when the Soyuz reached the ISS. Read more at: phys.org...

ANOTHER SOURCE (THE VERGE)

a reply to: seattlerat

My guess is it happened while it was being built. They said a worker may have plugged it to hide their mistake, but the makeshift fix may have come undone.

My logic has a hard time figuring out why an astronaut would do this knowing it could endanger their lives, also there are only six on board I believe, so it would also be hard to not get caught.

If it was one of the people in space, my guess would be on it being a Russian, this could gain them victim points in the international community with their less than glamorous image the past few years. (I highly doubt the latter)

a reply to: seattlerat

Well, I won't speculate on what could be or what couldn't. Instead, I'd like to know why this is the first (known) case of a damage this big being made by meteorite?

Like, isn't the space full of these lol. Just kidding.

But seriously. Still wondering.

a reply to: vinifalou

Instead, I'd like to know why this is the first (known) case of a damage this big being made by meteorite?

It isn't, it's been stated the conclusion is that it was caused by a drill.

You can see where the drill slid a few times before making enough contact to start drilling.



source

Fine Russian manufacturing

a reply to: CriticalStinker

Did they covered this up when they announced the incident?

Or did they just found out that it was not a meteorite?

originally posted by: vinifalou
a reply to: CriticalStinker

Did they covered this up when they announced the incident?

Or did they just found out that it was not a meteorite?

The hypothesis is if it was a mistake done on the ground, the person who did it may have done a temporary fix to avoid getting in trouble.

For now they are going to use epoxy and a special tape until ground control can figure out a better fix.

For sure, those scrape marks are suspicious. I can't imagine any way a micrometeor could cause those.

a reply to: seattlerat

As far as I can see Russia is lying. The hit on the white surface isn't a drill it's definitely a puncture because of the way the metal flange bent inward. The second picture also shows the metal bent inward. Here's a look at the inside of a Soyuz spacecraft. To me the color matches up with the second picture pretty well.



Just more bull# from the gangster in Moscow who claims they didn't shoot down MH 17 . I really hate that creep .

Looks like there’s several starts of a drill. Could be someone up there drilling holes into a project but didn’t have the situational awareness to know that the outer skin of the module was right under there! I’ve seen that many times on home repair jobs from unskilled workers drilling into the table from a project, and have seen a picture of a boat with screws coming out the bottom of the hull, viral picture.

This looks like an accident, not deliberate.

a reply to: 14377

As far as I can see Russia is lying. The hit on the white surface isn't a drill it's definitely a puncture because of the way the metal flange bent inward.

That can certainly happen with metal. Now I've never dealt with space grade alloys before, but here on earth with normal stuff you can definitely get flanges. Not using the right drill bit, using to much pressure while drilling, and I'm sure there are other variables I'm not thinking of.

Edit: Keep in mind that the picture of the hole with flanges is taken at a very high zoom. It would also imply that it was hit by meteorite that was perfectly round.

That does look a lot like a drill hole and the additional marks are pretty damning. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

Could this cause depressurization or cause the heat shield to fail during entry? If this could cause the destruction of the craft on reentry, can it be use as a false flag?

a reply to: 38181

So the Russians should be using Angie's List.

I would think someone working on a space craft would be aware and careful, but ya never know.

Outsourced the work to some auto mechanic maybe.

a reply to: seattlerat

they have got to be taking the piss

originally posted by: joemoe
Could this cause depressurization?

In a word, yes;

...For now, the leak is small—only 2 mm—but any such break in the bulkhead can lead to complete depressurization.

...A NASA spokesperson confirmed to TIME via phone that the depressurization on the space station did not pose an immediate threat to crew safety, and added: “It was not a full depressurization event, it was a small leak that was tracked to a docked Soyuz.”

...or cause the heat shield to fail during entry?

Maybe;

This time, the breach is in the Soyuz itself, which could prevent the crew from using it as lifeboat and escape vehicle.

Source

If this could cause the destruction of the craft on reentry, can it be used as a false flag?

Interesting question, an event like that could be spun any way by either side, I would guess.

a reply to: CriticalStinker

I made that statement because of 30+ years of aluminum and steel fabrication and installation . but I did see the post about the possible drill skips.

It sounds reasonable but I wasn't entirely sure that wasn't a serial number or somethin similar. but then my eyes aren't what they used to be and I am on a phone .

Any chance you could blow that up and take a good look at it for me ?

originally posted by: joemoe
Could this cause depressurization or cause the heat shield to fail during entry? If this could cause the destruction of the craft on reentry, can it be use as a false flag?

I would think this would be more like sabotage. The module would break up on re-entry, and it would be written off as a tragic accident. It would be like the loss of the space shuttle Colombia.

Alternatively, if it was done on Earth, then perhaps the person responsible was hoping the capsule would fail during launch.

a reply to: joemoe
depressurization yes but very slowly or the connecting bulkhead door can be closed and sealed from the crew compartment,
heat sheild damage- no there is only solar sheilding in this part of the module which is disposed of before re-entry

Woah crazy that does look like a drill bit was “walking” before “biting” into the material, looks like an apprentice went at it with the dullest drill bit in the shop! Surely the implements on the station that could cause this would be known quantities and could be accounted for. Also checking air filtration for metal shavings to see if it happened post or pre launch.