The International Space Station (ISS) has collided with a small meteorite: the temperature on board is rising

On Friday, the Russian space agency Roscosmos admitted a “slight” rise in temperature aboard a spacecraft docking with the International Space Station (ISS), according to the agency, two days after a leak occurred, possibly due to the impact of a small meteor.

According to Roscosmos, “a number of tests” were carried out on the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft, “including measuring the temperature in the living space of the spacecraft.” On Tuesday, the Russian Space Agency said it was now 30 degrees Celsius cable. “This is a slight change in temperature,” continued Roscosmos, which claims that this situation is “not critical for the operation of the equipment and the comfort of the station crew.”

But the challenge lies in determining whether the ship will still be able to return to Earth two Russian cosmonauts and their American colleague Frank Rubio, whose mission is due to end in March 2023. The temperature in the ship is currently being maintained “at an average level” in the Russian part of the station, Roscosmos said. International Space”.

“acceptable limits”

The Soyuz MS-22 leak came on Wednesday when Russian cosmonauts Sergei Prokopyev and Dmitry Petlin were preparing for a spacewalk, which was eventually cancelled. The source of the leak has been determined to be coming from the Soyuz cooling system, and the fluid is supposed to be coolant. Pictures broadcast by the US space agency clearly showed a jet of white particles leaking abundantly into space from the ship. NASA said Friday that “most of the liquid has leaked out” by Thursday.

And the US agency reassured “the temperatures and humidity inside the Soyuz spacecraft (…) are within acceptable limits.” According to NASA, a “successful” test of the spacecraft’s engines took place on Friday, but other verifications are still ongoing. NASA said a spacewalk scheduled for Monday was pushed back to Wednesday to allow the station’s Canadian robotic arm to be used to “provide more exterior images of Soyuz on Sunday.”

In addition to the crew that arrived on the Soyuz spacecraft, there are currently four more people on the ISS: Russian Anna Kikina, Americans Nicole Mann and Josh Kasada, and Japanese Koichi Wakata. They traveled with an American spacecraft from SpaceX. The International Space Station is one of the few areas of cooperation still underway between Moscow and Washington since Russia’s attack on Ukraine, launched on February 24, and ensuing Western sanctions.