According to sources in the rocket and space industry, the reason for the air leak on the International Space Station was a defect in the assembly of the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft.
Abnormal situations on the ISS often occur, nevertheless, the importance of the program each time rivets the attention of specialists from all countries to them. On 29 August, a minor air leak was observed aboard the station. Further analysis showed that its cause lay in a two-millimeter hole in the Russian segment of the ISS, or more precisely, in the inner hull of the living compartment of the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft, on which the members of the 56th long-term expedition arrived at the station.
There was no danger to the life of the crew members, but the specialists decided to investigate the incident. As RIA Novosti reported, citing sources in the rocket and space industry, the leak was caused by a manufacturing defect in the manufacture of the Soyuz spacecraft. “The reason for the hole in the inner hull of the utility compartment of the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft has been established. It originated on Earth. The person responsible for the negligence has been identified,”the agency's source said.
According to another employee, the employee who realized the mistake probably tried to repair the crack in the ship using special glue. In this case, the marriage might not make itself felt in the first time after the launch. “However, in the future, the glue dried up and was squeezed out, opening the hole,” a source said to RIA Novosti.
Soyuz MS-09 / © NASA The Soyuz MS spacecraft is an updated version of the Soyuz spacecraft developed in the 60s. Now the device can be considered obsolete. Nevertheless, it will continue to operate until the moment the Federation, a manned spacecraft of a new generation, is put into operation.
If the information about the admitted marriage is confirmed at the official level, this will once again force us to talk about the culture of production at the enterprises of the Russian rocket and space industry. Let us remind you that last year experts found out that almost all the backlog of engines for the second and third stages of the Proton launch vehicles at that time was defective.
It is important to note that such difficulties occur against the background of serious financial problems for Roscosmos, associated with both the progress of Western companies and the deterioration of political relations between Russia and the United States. All this casts doubt on the implementation of a number of priority programs, including the test of the aforementioned "Federation".