Radiator leak from Russian ISS module leaves spacewalkers cooling their heels

Russia’s Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft, currently docked at the International Space Station (ISS), began leaking coolant Wednesday evening. According to Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, the instrument and assembly compartment’s outer skin was damaged. Fortunately, the crew is safe, and they conducted normal operations afterward. NASA said in a blog post that “the external radiator cooling loop of the Soyuz is the suspected leak source.”

Cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin were already in their suits, preparing for a nearly seven-hour spacewalk, when the crew noticed low-pressure readings. The cosmonauts postponed their walk indefinitely and weren’t exposed to the coolant. “Roscosmos is closely monitoring Soyuz spacecraft temperatures, which remain within acceptable limits,” NASA said. “NASA and Roscosmos continue to coordinate external imagery and inspection plans to aid in evaluating the external leak location.” The crew plans to investigate further using the station’s robotic arm.

The Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft launched from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome on September 21st, carrying the two cosmonauts and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio. The Russian space agency added that “a decision will be made” about the cosmonauts’ future aboard the ISS. A spacewalk scheduled for Dec. 21 is postponed indefinitely as the investigation continues.

The ISS orbiting Earth.
NASA

Russia’s war in Ukraine has complicated (to say the least) the relationship between NASA and Roscosmos. Earlier this year, Russia said it would pull out of the ISS after 2024 and focus on launching its own space station. Although removing Russia from the ISS would throw a tremendous wrench into the program, the US reportedly had contingency plans even before the invasion.

Audio from a Martian dust devil captured for the first time

NASA announced today that the Perseverance rover has captured audio from a Martian dust devil for the first time. But the clip not only treats us to the novelty of hearing an extraterrestrial vortex; it could also help scientists better understand how dust might affect future Mars missions.

The rover’s microphones picked up the dust devil on September 27th, 2021. To the casual ear, it sounds similar to a microphone picking up a wind gust on Earth, but scientists can learn much more. “As the dust devil passed over Perseverance we could actually hear individual impacts of grains on the rover,” Naomi Murdoch, planetary scientist and the author of new report, toldThe Washington Post. “We could actually count them.”

Dust is a significant factor in planning for Mars missions. It can erode a spacecraft’s heat shields, damage scientific instruments, incapacitate parachutes and smother solar panels.

Scientists estimate the recorded whirlwind measured about 82 feet wide by 387 feet high. (Although that may sound intimidating, this relatively minor storm didn’t damage the rover.) As you can hear below (via Science News), the clip includes a brief pause in the turbulence as the dust devil’s eye passes over the rover.

Perseverance also captured images (also included in the recording) of the approaching storm. Scientists had to coordinate their instruments to boost the odds of recording a storm. The rover only records sound snippets lasting under three minutes and only does so eight times per month. That meant timing them for when dust devils are most likely to hit while pointing its cameras where they’re most likely to approach. In this case, that preparation — and no small degree of luck — paid off.

“I can’t think of a previous case where so much data from so many instruments contributed to characterizing a single dust devil,” said John Edward Moores, a planetary scientist at York University. “Had the [camera] been pointing in a different direction or the microphone observation been scheduled just a few seconds later, key pieces of the story would be missing. Sometimes it helps to be lucky in science!”

The roughly 10-ft.-long Perseverance rover launched on July 30th, 2020 and touched Martian soil on February 18th, 2021. NASA uses the vehicle to explore the Jezero crater and search for signs of ancient microbial life as part of the Mars 2020 mission.

NASA’s Artemis 1 Moon mission has returned to Earth

NASA’s Artemis 1 mission has returned to Earth following a successful trip around the Moon. On Saturday, at approximately 12:40PM ET, the uncrewed Orion vessel landed off the coast of Baja, California, completing a nearly 26-day journey that saw the spacecraft break an Apollo flight record and send back stunning photos of Earth’s natural satellite. 

On its way to the Pacific Ocean, Orion performed what’s known as a skip entry. After entering the Earth’s upper atmosphere, the crew vessel briefly used its own lift to “skip” back out before re-entering for the final descent. In doing so, it became the first spacecraft designed to carry humans to carry out such a maneuver. 

“This is an extraordinary day,” Administrator Bill Nelson said during the NASA livestream. “… It’s one that marks new technology, a whole new breed of astronaut, a vision for the future that captures the DNA of particularly Americans — although we do this as an international venture — and that DNA is we are adventures, we are explorers, we always have a frontier, and that frontier is to now continue exploring the heavens.”     

Now that Orion has safely returned to Earth, NASA will begin assessing all the data that the spacecraft collected on its 1.4 million-mile journey through space and begin preparing for Artemis II. That mission, currently scheduled for 2024, will see human astronauts fly aboard the Orion spacecraft. Then, as early as 2025 or 2026, NASA hopes to carry out its first lunar landing since the end of the Apollo program in 1972. It could take the US Navy up to five hours to recover the Orion spacecraft, though a preliminary inspection from a helicopter indicated the capsule was undamaged. 

Getting here wasn’t easy. NASA’s next-generation Space Launch System gave the agency plenty of headaches before it successfully carried Artemis 1 to space on November 16th. NASA spent much of the summer troubleshooting fuel leaks and engine problems. Come fall, Hurricane Ian and later tropical storm Nicole further delayed the launch of Artemis 1, but after all of that was said and done, the SLS produced one of the most memorable rocket launches in decades. A nighttime flight saw the rocket lit up the Kennedy Space Center.         

More broadly, the conclusion of Artemis 1 caps off one of NASA’s most successful years in recent memory. Among other achievements, 2022 saw the James Webb Space Telescope begin operation and start producing stunning images of the cosmos, and the DART spacecraft successfully alter the orbit of an asteroid. Now the agency turns its attention to the Moon and beyond.   

The Biden administration is reportedly drafting an executive order to streamline space rules

The Biden administration is reportedly drafting an executive order designed to modernize federal space regulations. According to Reuters, White House officials have hosted multiple “listening sessions” since November 14th. The goal of those meetings ha…

NASA posts high-resolution images of Orion’s final lunar flyby

Orion just made its final pass around the moon on its way to Earth, and NASA has released some of the spacecraft’s best photos so far. Taken by a high-resolution camera (actually a heavily modified GoPro Hero 4) mounted on the tip of Orion’s solar arrays, they show the spacecraft rounding the Moon then getting a closeup shot of the far side. 

The photos Orion snapped on its first near pass to the Moon were rather grainy and blown out, likely because they were captured with Orion’s Optical Navigation Camera rather than the solar array-mounted GoPros. Other GoPro shots were a touch overexposed, but NASA appears to have nailed the settings with its latest series of shots. 

Space photos were obviously not the primary goal of the Artemis I mission, but they’re important for public relations, as NASA learned many moons ago. It was a bit surprising that NASA didn’t show some high-resolution closeups of the Moon’s surface when it passed by the first time, but better late than never.

Orion’s performance so far has been “outstanding,” program manager Howard Hu told reporters last week. It launched on November 15th as part of the Artemis 1 mission atop NASA’s mighty Space Launch System. Days ago, the craft completed a three and a half minute engine burn (the longest on the trip so far) to set it on course for a splashdown on December 11th.

The next mission, Artemis II, is scheduled in 2024 to carry astronauts on a similar path to Artemis I without landing on the moon. Then, humans will finally set foot on the lunar surface again with Artemis III, slated for launch in 2025.