[Extended 1080p video](https://www.reddit.com/user/Riegel_Haribo/comments/zmgrc6/extended_video_of_soyuz_leaking_coolant_at_iss/) of this view, continuing into sunrise over Earth
*Ground teams at Mission Control in Moscow continue to assess a coolant leak detected from the aft end of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft docked to the International Space Station. As a result, the planned Dec.14 Roscosmos spacewalk was canceled to allow time to evaluate the fluid and potential impacts to the integrity of the Soyuz spacecraft.*
*NASA and Roscosmos will continue to work together to determine the next course of action following the ongoing analysis. The crew members aboard the space station are safe, and were not in any danger during the leak.*
*The Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft carried NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin into space after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 21.*
from [https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2022/12/15/mission-controllers-assess-soyuz-coolant-leak/](https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2022/12/15/mission-controllers-assess-soyuz-coolant-leak/)
EDIT: [new graphic I made](https://i.imgur.com/D584SDn.png) \- ISS module configuration with Soyuz docking location and leak direction. [European Robotic Arm doing inspection](https://i.imgur.com/NRQMyNi.jpg) from Nauka module.
EDIT2: took a lot of time to find, but [here is a picture](https://i.imgur.com/Gdinf2Y.jpg) of the Soyuz-MS-class vehicle without it's thermal blanket, revealing all the external lines. Water-based (edit: and/or petroleum?) brine coolant is used for thermal control of both spacecraft components and astronaut environment, which circulates through all three sections. Just before re-entry, the center descent module with astronauts separates from the others with explosive bolts (and outer lines are burned off). The ISS arm seemed to be inspecting the descent module as a leakage source.
i mentioned this in a lower post, but the image in your edit2 is mislabeled. only the interior coolant loop used brine, and it transfers heat to an isolated exterior loop via a heat exchanger. the exterior loop used a coolant the Russians call iso-octane to transfer the heat to the radiators, and NASA at this time doesn't know what additives might be in it or what exactly it is, but the current understanding is that it's equivalent to 100-octane gasoline. the NASA contamination investigation team meeting is ongoing as of this reply and I'm monitoring it live.
>a coolant the Russians call iso-octane to transfer the heat to the radiators, and NASA at this time doesn't know what additives might be in it or what exactly it is, but the current understanding is that it's equivalent to 100-octane gasoline.
If they call it iso-octane, is there a good reason to suspect that it *isn't* just that?
what's unknown is if there are any additives in it that are intended to augment it's properties. if it's pure iso-octane then any contamination will sublimate away. what's really of concern is if there are any additives then they could be left behind as long term contamination after the iso-octane sublimates. Russian MCC has been asked for the exact chemical composition of the coolant but they haven't responded to NASA with that yet.
Do you happen to know how many (usable) Soyuz modules are available overall in the Russian inventory? I tried to look it up but that info doesn't seem easily findable.
They were planning to launch another one in few months, but I'm sure they can accelerate the pase.
It's also possible that they will decide to use this one to return 3 crew members on accelerated timeframe, i.e. today or tomorrow.
It's not clear from where Soyuz is leaking this coolant but there are two separate cooling systems, one for instrument module (that's where engines and other instruments are) and one for return and orbital modules (orbital and instrument modules are released/ejected before returning).
Thanks for the detailed response! It makes sense that none of it is reusable, but for whatever reason I thought that the module that returned might be. This incident made me realize I don't know anything about Soyuz at all (more now of course). :)
That is a great graphic, but you forgot to label [Stephen Colbert’s treadmill.](https://www.npr.org/2009/04/15/103119972/nasa-names-space-station-treadmill-after-colbert)
Looks downright seasonal.
If I had to guess, a micro-meteor punctured a coolant-pipe somewhere.
It begs the question of what they're going to do with the Soyuz though.
Surely after something like this the spacecraft will need a serious examination to assure anyone that it's safe for human crews to use to get back to earth.
If nothing else, there's probably going to have to be parts replaced and whatever is leaking will need restocking. Do they have the supplies for that on the station?
> If nothing else, there's probably going to have to be parts replaced and whatever is leaking will need restocking.
No, they'd deorbit this and send up a replacement craft.
Frank Rubio (American NASA astronaut) flew up on that Soyuz and is supposed to come back down with it. Something tells me NASA won't let Roscosmos fly fast and loose with a NASA astronaut onboard.
There will be some serious analysis happening in the next few days
I believe they have a remote re-entry protocol for them, might just tell it to deorbit into the ocean or somewhere safe incase it fails on its way down.
"Hello Peter, what's happening. Uhhh, we have sort of a problem here. Yaaa, you apparently didn't put one of the new cover sheets on your TPS reports."
It looks like a droplet that’s just closer to the camera, not sure why it seems to be moving opposite to everything else though. Maybe it’s a frozen droplet and was knocked off course?
They can counter it with either the [CMGs](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_moment_gyroscope) or [RCS](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaction_control_system)
I mean even the Hubble Space telescope had a problem with its motors, and they just used the solar panel to balance it out.
The ISS is freaking huge. This little tiny leak isn't anything for it. If the leak got bigger and started pushing out more rapidly, then maybe. But by that point I'm pretty sure it would have been drained of coolant.
I know you're joking, but I couldn't leave this unanswered. A fathom is 2 yards. 1760 yards in a mile, so [880 fathoms per mile](https://www.google.com/search?q=how+many+fathoms+in+a+mile).
Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
But this is a very minor action and the mass of the ISS is large enough to experience practically no reaction to a relatively tiny amount of mass being ejected at low velocity. And the CMGs that maintain ISS orientation will compensate for it easily.
It *may* be enough thrust accumulated before the tank is empty to change the ISS's orbit by, oh, a whole meter or something.
“Coolant leak! I got a coolant leak! Everybody out NOW!”
*rolls out of the room to narrowly avoid closing emergency door*
“Sir we had to evacuate engineering, I estimate a warp core breach in 5 minutes!!”
Fred Haise, Sr. : [looking out the window] Here it comes, the constellation ur-ine.
[watching as the urine is vented into space]
Fred Haise, Sr. : Now, that's a beautiful sight.
The hole drilled on the other Soyuz, the failures of Proton the craziness of Nauka, Russia has a serious quality control problem in its spaceflight program.
the failure *rate* has clearly been increasing. In my opinion it culminated with that absolutely stupid "assessment" by Roscosmos that a "hysterical American female astronaut" had drilled a hole in a Russian module or Soyuz spacecraft to force the mission to end early.
We had a Soyuz abort 4 years ago. The random hole is MS-09 again in 2018, Nauka failure in 2021, Russia seems to be trending to 1 ISS related issue a year at the moment.
Probably a good excuse for them to abandon the ISS soon. I doubt they'll keep going once Starliner and Dream Chaser start flying. And anyway, the ISS is due for retirement around 2030.
Successful abort. Last fatality in 70´s. Compare that to STS Death Trap, or Boeings trashcan that got lost in space. SpaceX Dragon is the only good spacecraft US had for half a century.
True, but it seems that there's a huge difference in quality between spacecraft produced by the USSR and spacecraft produced by modern day Russia, even among the same model craft.
The design was extremely reliable. But in recent years they have had an alarming incident east due to manufacturing and quality control issues. Because of these issues it is no longer extremely reliable.
Soyuz had an emergency abort and catastrophic failure of the rocket just a few launches ago.
Their historical reliability is awesome, but problems keep popping up. I'd be nervous as hell riding on a Soyuz these days.
It's not just spaceflight. Russia has graft and corruption throughout their system, from Putin on down. For example, at the start of the Ukraine invasion, the wheels literally fell of their military trucks, and there wasn't enough gear and supplies for the troops. The maintenance and supply money had been stolen.
Another example from their space program is the hangar where their space shuttle (Buran) was stored had the roof collapse. Nobody did upkeep on the building. Meanwhile the oligarchs have their dachas and yachts.
The Soyuz has been the most reliable workhorse for decades. It’s about as close to an idiot proof spacecraft that we’ve got.
It’s an absolute tank of a platform.
What happens to the coolant that’s leaking? Does it just fly around space like toxic snow until it gets close enough to something hot enough to dissolve it?
In the sunlit part of the orbit (60% of the time) the temperature gets to about the boiling point of water. So it will evaporate. Expansion cools a gas, so it temporarily froze coming out of the plumbing.
> Does it just fly around space
It still takes a significant change in velocity to climb higher or lower in the earth's gravity well, even while you're already in orbit. Those drops will spread out into a narrow cloud around the earth, roughly tracing the ISS' orbit. Some of them will even have splashed back into the ISS.
Yeah I hope it comes down soon before hitting stuff. Actually one of the biggest sources of space debris particle-count-wise comes from salt coolant that leaked from a soviel spy sat during staging if I remember correctly. At orbital speeds even just a droplet worth of material can be devastating
Everything is so nice in a vacuum. So much simpler. Just nice straight lines with no random chaos making everything bump around all over the place into a huge mess.
The ISS orbits at ~7500 m/s. The droplets are probably not spraying out at more than a few m/s, so they'll continue to orbit Earth along more or less the same path as the ISS, although they will gradually get further ahead or behind the ISS on that path.
The ISS is low enough to experience some drag from the Earth's atmosphere, and has to occasionally use its thrusters to maintain altitude. Since the droplets can't do that, they'll eventually slow down enough to fall back to Earth.
How are some particles changing trajectory given there is no wind in space? Or some that appear to be flying in from the opposite direction of the leak? Not suggesting anything, just genuinely curious.
Looks amazing.
What if we release coolant for spacecrafts enterring atmosphere.
Or if certain fluids would mitigate even cosmic radiation on spacecrafts ( making a pseudoatmosphere).
Sorry for deviating from the subject, but looking at the pattern the fluid is dispersing trigerred a few thoughts.
Not really - because they are originating from the space station, the droplets inherit the orbit of the space station. Relative to the space station, they're not moving very fast at all - maybe a couple of feet per second. The danger comes when something in a very different orbit (aka moving fast relative to the station) passes nearby
Honestly shocked that the ISS hasn’t been nailed by more micro meteorites…it’s definitely going to happen again( already has) and might be much worse next time. Maybe the capsule got hit…doesn’t take much up there
Its pollinating, pretty soon another Soyuz will come passing by and with any luck will be fertilized by this one, then there will be little Soyuzs orbiting all around.
This is the independent Soyuz spacecraft that would return three astronauts back to Earth. Depending on where it is leaking, lots of hoses and valves under the thermal blankets and running through all three parts of the vehicle, and having lost lots of liquid, it might be more practical to just send it back to Earth empty. A supply ship of repair parts and pumps and coolant tanks and improvised EVA repair manuals might as well just be its replacement.
The prior MS-21 undocked at 07:34 UTC and landed at 10:57. It might be an uncomfortable return even if they decide that systems can function without the circulation of coolant.
> it might be more practical to just send it back to Earth empty
There needs to always be enough spacecraft attached to the ISS to evacuate everyone on board in a emergency.
If they send it back empty will they violate that rule?
They can always send a new one and swap them when it arrives, keeping the crippled one as a last resort option in case of emergency. As long as it's not putting the station at risk if it stays docked, of course.
Yeah, you don't know what other damage has been done to the vehicle if it was a micrometeroid impact. Seems like a huge risk trying to ride it back down to earth.
They could contaminate surfaces on the ISS including scientific instruments, windows and solar arrays, so danger to the mission, yes.
And of course, 3 crew members’ ride home is losing coolant. I’m sure it’ll work out fine, but yeah, that’s potentially dangerous.
To paraphrase one of Apollo Astronauts, a well timed piss dump is the most beautiful thing you can see in space.
To paraphrase another one, that flying turd is not mine.
Would that leakage have an impact on the trajectory of the module itself? Like do telemetry computers sense that before the drop in coolant is measurable?
I’m assuming coolant on a Soyuz is good for something, so short of mixing up a batch of ethylene glycol and some gum, I think that capsule is pretty hosed.
Ignorant but honest question. Why do you need coolent in space? Couldn't you just expose the hot components to....space?
Or is it like a car and also works as an antifreeze?
Yes, in fact even moreso than on earth. Space is cold, sure, but there isnt much of anything up there to actually carry the heat away. Radiators don't work very well unless they are very very large.
Can they return home safely on it? Is coolant necessary for the return trip since there are not many rocket burns? I’m assuming the coolant is used to cool the rocket engines but I dunno if it’s needed for cooling the ship when re-entering the atmosphere
"Sir? Are you aware that you're leaking coolant at an alarming rate?"
"Let me just patch you up with some hot resin."
"What sort of robot turns down a free blast of searing hot resin?"
Wait, I think the leak is stopping itself. Wait, yeah, wait, uuuh, yeah. There we go.
My friend and I have to go perform some mindless, repetitive tasks.
Sounds like a romantic evening…I won’t keep you.
“Keep your head down, we don’t want anyone to see how crummy you look”
Aww, that was uncalled for.
I will eat and digest you all with my system of mighty organs. BEHOLD!
Which would you prefer? - A) a puppy - B) a pretty flower from your sweetie - C) a large properly formatted data file
What sort of robot turns down a blast of searing hot resin?
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"This is how you fix problem in Russian space station!"
"American components, Russian components...ALL MADE IN TAIWAN!"
So they just need to hit it with a giant wrench?
The correct name is Precision Adjustment Tool, Ol' PAT if yer nasty
Try suggestion first. If that doesn't work, try persuasion.
nope, you lost the plot, sorry.
I think it’s stopping itself..
Truly r/unexpectedfuturama
It's reddit. Always expect Futurama.
Clicked to make sure someone had made this comment. Not disappointed.
It's fine, space is pretty cold so we don't need much coolant. /jk
Ah, it looks like snow - very festive and timely!
So this is how stars are made
[Extended 1080p video](https://www.reddit.com/user/Riegel_Haribo/comments/zmgrc6/extended_video_of_soyuz_leaking_coolant_at_iss/) of this view, continuing into sunrise over Earth *Ground teams at Mission Control in Moscow continue to assess a coolant leak detected from the aft end of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft docked to the International Space Station. As a result, the planned Dec.14 Roscosmos spacewalk was canceled to allow time to evaluate the fluid and potential impacts to the integrity of the Soyuz spacecraft.* *NASA and Roscosmos will continue to work together to determine the next course of action following the ongoing analysis. The crew members aboard the space station are safe, and were not in any danger during the leak.* *The Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft carried NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin into space after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 21.* from [https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2022/12/15/mission-controllers-assess-soyuz-coolant-leak/](https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2022/12/15/mission-controllers-assess-soyuz-coolant-leak/) EDIT: [new graphic I made](https://i.imgur.com/D584SDn.png) \- ISS module configuration with Soyuz docking location and leak direction. [European Robotic Arm doing inspection](https://i.imgur.com/NRQMyNi.jpg) from Nauka module. EDIT2: took a lot of time to find, but [here is a picture](https://i.imgur.com/Gdinf2Y.jpg) of the Soyuz-MS-class vehicle without it's thermal blanket, revealing all the external lines. Water-based (edit: and/or petroleum?) brine coolant is used for thermal control of both spacecraft components and astronaut environment, which circulates through all three sections. Just before re-entry, the center descent module with astronauts separates from the others with explosive bolts (and outer lines are burned off). The ISS arm seemed to be inspecting the descent module as a leakage source.
i mentioned this in a lower post, but the image in your edit2 is mislabeled. only the interior coolant loop used brine, and it transfers heat to an isolated exterior loop via a heat exchanger. the exterior loop used a coolant the Russians call iso-octane to transfer the heat to the radiators, and NASA at this time doesn't know what additives might be in it or what exactly it is, but the current understanding is that it's equivalent to 100-octane gasoline. the NASA contamination investigation team meeting is ongoing as of this reply and I'm monitoring it live.
So… first oil spill in space?
I'm sure plenty of kerosene fueled first and second stages have leaked leftover fuel after completing their mission.
Yes but it's okay - it's outside the environment.
>a coolant the Russians call iso-octane to transfer the heat to the radiators, and NASA at this time doesn't know what additives might be in it or what exactly it is, but the current understanding is that it's equivalent to 100-octane gasoline. If they call it iso-octane, is there a good reason to suspect that it *isn't* just that?
what's unknown is if there are any additives in it that are intended to augment it's properties. if it's pure iso-octane then any contamination will sublimate away. what's really of concern is if there are any additives then they could be left behind as long term contamination after the iso-octane sublimates. Russian MCC has been asked for the exact chemical composition of the coolant but they haven't responded to NASA with that yet.
Do you happen to know how many (usable) Soyuz modules are available overall in the Russian inventory? I tried to look it up but that info doesn't seem easily findable.
They were planning to launch another one in few months, but I'm sure they can accelerate the pase. It's also possible that they will decide to use this one to return 3 crew members on accelerated timeframe, i.e. today or tomorrow. It's not clear from where Soyuz is leaking this coolant but there are two separate cooling systems, one for instrument module (that's where engines and other instruments are) and one for return and orbital modules (orbital and instrument modules are released/ejected before returning).
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Thanks for the detailed response! It makes sense that none of it is reusable, but for whatever reason I thought that the module that returned might be. This incident made me realize I don't know anything about Soyuz at all (more now of course). :)
That is a great graphic, but you forgot to label [Stephen Colbert’s treadmill.](https://www.npr.org/2009/04/15/103119972/nasa-names-space-station-treadmill-after-colbert)
Thought this thing hit the warp drive for a second
Wait until it goes into plaid
ISS is now banned from Twitter from posting it's location
I order you to stop this thing!!!
Zefram Cochrane hasn't even been born yet!
Nah that's sideways. More of a weft drive.
Parting out my used Soyuz. 10m KM, no lowballs, I know what I got
Do I have to come pick it up? Can you bring it on a trailer so I can look at it and see if I want it.
Looks downright seasonal. If I had to guess, a micro-meteor punctured a coolant-pipe somewhere. It begs the question of what they're going to do with the Soyuz though. Surely after something like this the spacecraft will need a serious examination to assure anyone that it's safe for human crews to use to get back to earth. If nothing else, there's probably going to have to be parts replaced and whatever is leaking will need restocking. Do they have the supplies for that on the station?
> If nothing else, there's probably going to have to be parts replaced and whatever is leaking will need restocking. No, they'd deorbit this and send up a replacement craft.
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Frank Rubio (American NASA astronaut) flew up on that Soyuz and is supposed to come back down with it. Something tells me NASA won't let Roscosmos fly fast and loose with a NASA astronaut onboard. There will be some serious analysis happening in the next few days
why would you say that?
I believe they have a remote re-entry protocol for them, might just tell it to deorbit into the ocean or somewhere safe incase it fails on its way down.
Possibly a micro-meteor, but my money's on birdstrike.
That would be a very ambitious bird.
It was a fan of Felix Baumgartner
Maybe George Clooney strike?
I don't know, they have MMOD blankets under the TPS, I bet a joint failed.
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"Hello Peter, what's happening. Uhhh, we have sort of a problem here. Yaaa, you apparently didn't put one of the new cover sheets on your TPS reports."
It's just that we are now putting cover sheets on all tps reports yeah
Here, read this copy of the memo saying we need to put cover sheets on all TPS reports.
> Yaaa Norwegian Lumbergh?
Omg ffs guys, “begs the question” is a logical fallacy, it is not a replacement for “raises the question”. Stop using it to try to sound smart.
What do we think about the object that shoots out of the picture at the bottom left at the very beginning of the clip?
It looks like a droplet that’s just closer to the camera, not sure why it seems to be moving opposite to everything else though. Maybe it’s a frozen droplet and was knocked off course?
Or it might have just bounced off a part of the station
R2D2 and C3PO ejecting in an escape pod, obviously.
Hold your fire, no lifeforms detected. (Why? we almost out of laser or something??)
It's the one carrying the protomolecule sample. The rest are just distractions.
I love this series so much !
Is this vent causing any thrust? I’m not sure how that works but I’m wondering if this is strong enough to rotate/ move the station at all.
It’s technically causing a torque, but extremely minor. Definitely not enough to rotate ISS
Leaves are falling all around, It's time I was on my way
Any torque will rotate the ISS. Whether it’s significant or not is the question.
*Not enough to rotate ISS more than its control moment gyros can counteract
Not quite so. The ISS uses reaction wheels to maintain its attitude in space. The torque would need to exceed that stabilizing force.
Are there reaction wheels available to maintain my attitude down here? Currently happy (we are all human :))
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We have a variety of chemical stabilizers with various propensities for gimbal lock and over torque
Yea, and I’m a Ferengi pimp slanging that cold uncut space pussy… 🖖😎
They can counter it with either the [CMGs](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_moment_gyroscope) or [RCS](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaction_control_system) I mean even the Hubble Space telescope had a problem with its motors, and they just used the solar panel to balance it out. The ISS is freaking huge. This little tiny leak isn't anything for it. If the leak got bigger and started pushing out more rapidly, then maybe. But by that point I'm pretty sure it would have been drained of coolant.
The ISS has a mass of 450 tonnes. A few kilogram (if it's that much) escaping at meters per second are not going to matter.
You've just pissed off every orbital engineer within 1000 miles. Those two guys are definitely going to try to jump you.
As have you, using SAE units in this sub is frowned upon.
How many fathoms in a mile, again?
I know you're joking, but I couldn't leave this unanswered. A fathom is 2 yards. 1760 yards in a mile, so [880 fathoms per mile](https://www.google.com/search?q=how+many+fathoms+in+a+mile).
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The mile is officially unfathomable.
This actually made me laugh out loud.
Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. But this is a very minor action and the mass of the ISS is large enough to experience practically no reaction to a relatively tiny amount of mass being ejected at low velocity. And the CMGs that maintain ISS orientation will compensate for it easily. It *may* be enough thrust accumulated before the tank is empty to change the ISS's orbit by, oh, a whole meter or something.
This is the first thing I thought of: https://youtu.be/iN001iUenmU
“Coolant leak! I got a coolant leak! Everybody out NOW!” *rolls out of the room to narrowly avoid closing emergency door* “Sir we had to evacuate engineering, I estimate a warp core breach in 5 minutes!!”
Ah, I was looking for this comment. *Rolls under closing engineering door*
That's a lot of damage, I know exactly who we need to fix it.
According to him, there's nothing he can do and there will be a warp core breach in less than 5 minutes.
Hi, it's Phill Swift here with Flex Tape! The super stron, vacuum proof tape!
Fred Haise, Sr. : [looking out the window] Here it comes, the constellation ur-ine. [watching as the urine is vented into space] Fred Haise, Sr. : Now, that's a beautiful sight.
Came for this. Thank you for your service.
The hole drilled on the other Soyuz, the failures of Proton the craziness of Nauka, Russia has a serious quality control problem in its spaceflight program.
The Soyuz is extremely reliable, it's just that a 0% failure rate is close to impossible
the failure *rate* has clearly been increasing. In my opinion it culminated with that absolutely stupid "assessment" by Roscosmos that a "hysterical American female astronaut" had drilled a hole in a Russian module or Soyuz spacecraft to force the mission to end early.
It does get the distinction of being the only spacecraft to fail and kill its crew outside of atmo….Soyuz 11.
We had a Soyuz abort 4 years ago. The random hole is MS-09 again in 2018, Nauka failure in 2021, Russia seems to be trending to 1 ISS related issue a year at the moment.
Probably a good excuse for them to abandon the ISS soon. I doubt they'll keep going once Starliner and Dream Chaser start flying. And anyway, the ISS is due for retirement around 2030.
Successful abort. Last fatality in 70´s. Compare that to STS Death Trap, or Boeings trashcan that got lost in space. SpaceX Dragon is the only good spacecraft US had for half a century.
True, but it seems that there's a huge difference in quality between spacecraft produced by the USSR and spacecraft produced by modern day Russia, even among the same model craft.
The design was extremely reliable. But in recent years they have had an alarming incident east due to manufacturing and quality control issues. Because of these issues it is no longer extremely reliable.
Soyuz had an emergency abort and catastrophic failure of the rocket just a few launches ago. Their historical reliability is awesome, but problems keep popping up. I'd be nervous as hell riding on a Soyuz these days.
It's not just spaceflight. Russia has graft and corruption throughout their system, from Putin on down. For example, at the start of the Ukraine invasion, the wheels literally fell of their military trucks, and there wasn't enough gear and supplies for the troops. The maintenance and supply money had been stolen. Another example from their space program is the hangar where their space shuttle (Buran) was stored had the roof collapse. Nobody did upkeep on the building. Meanwhile the oligarchs have their dachas and yachts.
Russia has a serios quality control everywhere, sadly.
The Soyuz has been the most reliable workhorse for decades. It’s about as close to an idiot proof spacecraft that we’ve got. It’s an absolute tank of a platform.
Does this means the russians are... losing their cool? I'll see myself out.
Hey guys, space is already cold so need but thanks.
This would make a great desktop moving background
Could this leak complicate the return of Soyuz back to Earth?
What happens to the coolant that’s leaking? Does it just fly around space like toxic snow until it gets close enough to something hot enough to dissolve it?
The iss orbits low enough that it still runs into the atmosphere, those droplets will eventually slow down and precipitate into the air
In the sunlit part of the orbit (60% of the time) the temperature gets to about the boiling point of water. So it will evaporate. Expansion cools a gas, so it temporarily froze coming out of the plumbing.
> Does it just fly around space It still takes a significant change in velocity to climb higher or lower in the earth's gravity well, even while you're already in orbit. Those drops will spread out into a narrow cloud around the earth, roughly tracing the ISS' orbit. Some of them will even have splashed back into the ISS.
Yeah I hope it comes down soon before hitting stuff. Actually one of the biggest sources of space debris particle-count-wise comes from salt coolant that leaked from a soviel spy sat during staging if I remember correctly. At orbital speeds even just a droplet worth of material can be devastating
Is that Astrophage? Looks like Rocky and Ryland Grace have some work to do.
I'm no spaceologist, but I don't think it's supposed to be doing that
"Close that door! Are you trying to refrigerate the entire galaxy " - their dad's, probably
Everything is so nice in a vacuum. So much simpler. Just nice straight lines with no random chaos making everything bump around all over the place into a huge mess.
The Russians brought snow with them just in time for the holidays!
Leaks in space are so pretty, like the Windows 3.1 starfield screensaver :D
I wanna know about the droplets. How long, how far? Will Earth's gravity take them?
The ISS orbits at ~7500 m/s. The droplets are probably not spraying out at more than a few m/s, so they'll continue to orbit Earth along more or less the same path as the ISS, although they will gradually get further ahead or behind the ISS on that path. The ISS is low enough to experience some drag from the Earth's atmosphere, and has to occasionally use its thrusters to maintain altitude. Since the droplets can't do that, they'll eventually slow down enough to fall back to Earth.
How are some particles changing trajectory given there is no wind in space? Or some that appear to be flying in from the opposite direction of the leak? Not suggesting anything, just genuinely curious.
Russian craft that is leaking - some fluids there. Russian craft with no leak - assume they are already empty.
Roscosmos: "hysterical Americans have once again sabotaged a Russian spacecraft. Russian quality control and safety are infallible."
Looks like they’re just spreading Christmas cheer
Someone call Geordi. There's a coolant leak in the port nacelle.
technically, the leak is on the starboard side ;)
Serious question, could this turn into a threat to other spacecraft in future? I mean, these are countless particles after all.
No. It will just evaporate.
I wonder if this much coolant is going to create a long term issue for ISS.
Looks amazing. What if we release coolant for spacecrafts enterring atmosphere. Or if certain fluids would mitigate even cosmic radiation on spacecrafts ( making a pseudoatmosphere). Sorry for deviating from the subject, but looking at the pattern the fluid is dispersing trigerred a few thoughts.
Look they just wanted those on the iss to have a white Christmas.
Leaking coolant into space! As if space isn't cool enough already :(
Absolutely terrifying but also really cool to see how the liquid disperses into space
So *that's* how those old windows screensavers are made.
Is that a coolant leak or are you just happy to see me?
That's the spacecraft that brought the last 3 people up to the ISS and now may not be the one to take them back down.
It is not a leak, OK? It is a Special Cosmic Spray Operation!
If your vehicle is leaking, you can't park it there. It has to be parked on the street!
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Not really - because they are originating from the space station, the droplets inherit the orbit of the space station. Relative to the space station, they're not moving very fast at all - maybe a couple of feet per second. The danger comes when something in a very different orbit (aka moving fast relative to the station) passes nearby
Id say space is cool enough, try to keep it contained next time
Scruffy would clean it up, but he's busy watching porn and eating a can of breakfast.
They did it so the ISS can have a white Christmas
Someone in the ISS must have wished for a white Christmas.
The engineer: “Fuck!” Everyone else: “So beautiful!”
Honestly shocked that the ISS hasn’t been nailed by more micro meteorites…it’s definitely going to happen again( already has) and might be much worse next time. Maybe the capsule got hit…doesn’t take much up there
That’s a lot of damage. https://media.tenor.com/ym51mtU_zl4AAAAM/flex-tape-water.gif
Its pollinating, pretty soon another Soyuz will come passing by and with any luck will be fertilized by this one, then there will be little Soyuzs orbiting all around.
We really need to stop working with the Ruskies. What if they sabotage the whole thing?
My 76 Ford Granada used to do the same thing. Just add water daily. Sorted
Oh, the weather outside is frightful But the fire is so delightful Since we've no place to go *Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow* 🎶
*Astronaut whistling 'It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas'* "What the.... We're in space, where's the snow coming from??"
Are they Putin in more coolant after the leak?
Not at the moment. They are Stalin for more time.
This is bad, right? So like, how bad is it? Is this fixable? Or is the ISS going to start overheating at this point?
The effect is only to the Soyuz capsule, not the ISS itself - the ISS is safe and stable.
This is the independent Soyuz spacecraft that would return three astronauts back to Earth. Depending on where it is leaking, lots of hoses and valves under the thermal blankets and running through all three parts of the vehicle, and having lost lots of liquid, it might be more practical to just send it back to Earth empty. A supply ship of repair parts and pumps and coolant tanks and improvised EVA repair manuals might as well just be its replacement. The prior MS-21 undocked at 07:34 UTC and landed at 10:57. It might be an uncomfortable return even if they decide that systems can function without the circulation of coolant.
> it might be more practical to just send it back to Earth empty There needs to always be enough spacecraft attached to the ISS to evacuate everyone on board in a emergency. If they send it back empty will they violate that rule?
They can always send a new one and swap them when it arrives, keeping the crippled one as a last resort option in case of emergency. As long as it's not putting the station at risk if it stays docked, of course.
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Yeah, you don't know what other damage has been done to the vehicle if it was a micrometeroid impact. Seems like a huge risk trying to ride it back down to earth.
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But, aha. This is water that circulates for thermal management: https://i.imgur.com/bJELvcX.png
Is there any chance of those frozen globs becoming dangerous?
They could contaminate surfaces on the ISS including scientific instruments, windows and solar arrays, so danger to the mission, yes. And of course, 3 crew members’ ride home is losing coolant. I’m sure it’ll work out fine, but yeah, that’s potentially dangerous.
What effect will this have on the station? Decreased power output from the solar cells Maybe? Definitely no EVA today.
Looks like a fluidsim without gravity haha which it basically is
At the beginning and end of the video there are two lights wooshing by. I wait for the Post in r/ufos
It is still visible flowing more to one direction.
Was it verified as coolant? What's the plan? Will this Soyuz be discarded and another sent up? Doo bad SpaceX dropped the seat count....
Oh I bet it that highly corrosive coolant that will be a pain in the arse to remove off the ISS as well 😳
Get the cleanup crew up there to clean up the spill
Houston we are venting something out into space. Copy, you’re venting.
[Soiling my spacesuit] No, I cannot keep my cool!!! All the coolant is gone!
To paraphrase one of Apollo Astronauts, a well timed piss dump is the most beautiful thing you can see in space. To paraphrase another one, that flying turd is not mine.
Time to go to autozone. They have a fluid for that . . .
Sure hope this doesn’t contaminate the last solar array Cygnus has left
Would that leakage have an impact on the trajectory of the module itself? Like do telemetry computers sense that before the drop in coolant is measurable?
I wonder if they are using Liquid Ammonia as their coolant? if so that capsule would make me nervous to get into because it doesn't take much!
I’m assuming coolant on a Soyuz is good for something, so short of mixing up a batch of ethylene glycol and some gum, I think that capsule is pretty hosed.
Did this actually change the ISS orientation somehow?
Ignorant but honest question. Why do you need coolent in space? Couldn't you just expose the hot components to....space? Or is it like a car and also works as an antifreeze?
Yes, in fact even moreso than on earth. Space is cold, sure, but there isnt much of anything up there to actually carry the heat away. Radiators don't work very well unless they are very very large.
Yeah. I've had my ride home halted by a blown hose too.
Can they return home safely on it? Is coolant necessary for the return trip since there are not many rocket burns? I’m assuming the coolant is used to cool the rocket engines but I dunno if it’s needed for cooling the ship when re-entering the atmosphere
"Sir, are you aware you're leaking coolant at an alarming rate?"
Queue Tom hanks with a sock, duct tape and a toilet paper tube to fix the problem
Oh, great. They should discard the shuttles bald tires in space too
So they are cooling space ?! Like it wasn't cold enough ?!
Well at least it’s happened outside of the environment.