A depressurization has occurred on the Progress MS-21 cargo ship docked to the International Space Station (ISS). On this subject informed Saturday Roscosmos. The ministry says there is no threat to the crew aboard the ISS. According to cosmonaut Dmitry Petelin, the situation aboard the station is calm.
“Progress MS-21” on February 18 should be undocked from the station. As stated in Roscosmos’ post, it is now “isolated from the total station volume.”
According to a representative from the US Mission Control Center in Houston, the ship had a thermal control system coolant leak. Subsequently, Roscosmos reported the same. The cause of the leak is unclear.
It is stressed that the incident did not prevent another cargo ship, the Progress MS-22, from docking with the ISS on Saturday.
What happened to Progress MS-21 is the second incident in recent months with a spacecraft docked to the ISS. In December, there was a depressurization of the external radiator circuit of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft. As a result, the temperature rose sharply on board this ship. It was decided not to use it to bring the Russian-American crew back to Earth.
On February 20, the launch of the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft to the ISS is scheduled, it is expected that two Russian cosmonauts and American astronaut Frank Rubio will fly to Earth on board. It has not yet been reported whether the incident with the Progress will affect the Soyuz launch. Roscosmos said in a statement that this will not impact “the continuation of the ISS flight program.”
