Russia: Forget about the Nauka incident. Who punched the hole in the Soyuz, hmm?
(2021/08/13)
- Reference: 1628882592
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/08/13/nauka_iss_soyuz/
- Source link:
Opinion NASA's relationship with its Russian International Space Station (ISS) partner is under a similar strain to, say, an orbiting outpost that has been given a surprise spin by a malfunctioning module.
The module in question is, of course, the long-delayed Nauka, which made an automatic docking to the ISS on 29 July before sending the complex on a [1]wilder-than-desired ride a few hours later.
Despite [2]reassuring noises from NASA , the incident was a near-disaster for the ISS as Nauka's thrusters began firing, slowly rotating the station.
[3]
So bad was the situation that a [4]spacecraft emergency was declared and The Register understands that controllers at at least one of NASA's international partners were "very unhappy and worried" as the incident unfolded. Strong words in the normally tightly controlled world of spaceflight.
[5]
[6]
The problem was later [7]attributed to a "software failure" but the brave face being put on will have triggered some déjà vu in observers that recall NASA's habit of bending under the pressure of political expediency. The incidents aboard Mir while NASA astronauts were in attendance spring to mind, as do other events in the history of the agency where sound engineering judgements were trumped by politics.
Veteran commentator (and author of the excellent Star-Crossed Orbits ) James Oberg [8]warned that NASA might be repeating some of the lapses that led to earlier disasters.
[9]
The reaction from Russia appears to have been more along the lines of Roscosmos boss Dmitry Rogozin's [10]infamous "trampoline" comment than the foot shuffling and mumbled apology that one might have hoped for.
[11]International Space Station actually spun one-and-a-half times by errant Russian module's thrusters
[12]Russia says software malfunction caused Nauka module to unexpectedly fire thrusters, tilt space station
[13]International Space Station stabilizes after just-docked Russian module suddenly fires thrusters
[14]Have you turned it off and on again? Russia's Nauka module just about makes it to the ISS
Instead, Russian news mouthpiece TASS [15]went on the offensive , and brought up the mystery hole found drilled in the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft.
"Russian cosmonauts took a lie detector test to clear up the situation with a hole discovered on the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft while NASA astronauts rejected it, a high-ranking source in the domestic space industry told TASS," it said on 12 August.
The "high-ranking source" went on to say that the Russian side "received no possibility" to look at tools on the ISS for bits of Soyuz.
How the hole happened remains a mystery, although TASS quoted a "high-ranking source" again, [16]claiming that it must have been drilled on orbit. After all, the Soyuz passed a pressure test on Earth so it must have been done in orbit. Right?
[17]
Maybe. Or maybe an accident happened during manufacturing, the result of which was plugged before the pressure test. The pressures on orbit could then have popped out the bung. In the absence of a formal report (and it is now almost three years since the incident), who knows?
One thing is for sure, however, that "high-ranking source" can't be Roscosmos chief Rogozin.
Using the TASS mouthpiece in 2018, [18]he denied rumours that a NASA astronaut had made the hole in the hope of securing an early return to Earth. "We have never accused the Americans of that. It was an unscrupulous interpretation of certain statements and media reports. I categorically deny these allegations as totally untrue," he said.
NASA has yet to swat away the latest reports on TASS and did not respond to The Register's request for comment.
The days of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project seem a very long time ago now.
Roscosmos is keen to move on from the ISS and build a Lunar Station with China. NASA and its international chums have the Gateway lined up. The near-disaster of the Nauka screw-up coupled with the latest rumour-mongering from those "high-ranking" individuals is straining the lauded US-Russia ISS partnership.
At what point will mounting problems finally overwhelm NASA's carefully crafted political façade? ®
Get our [19]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/30/russia_iss_thrusters_software_glitch/
[2] https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2021/07/29/space-station-stable-after-earlier-unplanned-mlm-thruster-firing/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YRbrm6NPwYYeeG8pI@MbCgAAAI4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://twitter.com/explorer_flight/status/1420872744271495168
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YRbrm6NPwYYeeG8pI@MbCgAAAI4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YRbrm6NPwYYeeG8pI@MbCgAAAI4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/30/russia_iss_thrusters_software_glitch/
[8] https://spectrum.ieee.org/space-station-accident-needs-independant-investigation
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YRbrm6NPwYYeeG8pI@MbCgAAAI4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1s1irff
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/03/iss_thruster_spin/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/30/russia_iss_thrusters_software_glitch/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/30/iss_russia_nauka_module/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/29/nauka_docks/
[15] https://tass.com/science/1325247
[16] https://tass.com/science/1325275
[17] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YRbrm6NPwYYeeG8pI@MbCgAAAI4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[18] https://tass.com/science/1031588
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The module in question is, of course, the long-delayed Nauka, which made an automatic docking to the ISS on 29 July before sending the complex on a [1]wilder-than-desired ride a few hours later.
Despite [2]reassuring noises from NASA , the incident was a near-disaster for the ISS as Nauka's thrusters began firing, slowly rotating the station.
[3]
So bad was the situation that a [4]spacecraft emergency was declared and The Register understands that controllers at at least one of NASA's international partners were "very unhappy and worried" as the incident unfolded. Strong words in the normally tightly controlled world of spaceflight.
[5]
[6]
The problem was later [7]attributed to a "software failure" but the brave face being put on will have triggered some déjà vu in observers that recall NASA's habit of bending under the pressure of political expediency. The incidents aboard Mir while NASA astronauts were in attendance spring to mind, as do other events in the history of the agency where sound engineering judgements were trumped by politics.
Veteran commentator (and author of the excellent Star-Crossed Orbits ) James Oberg [8]warned that NASA might be repeating some of the lapses that led to earlier disasters.
[9]
The reaction from Russia appears to have been more along the lines of Roscosmos boss Dmitry Rogozin's [10]infamous "trampoline" comment than the foot shuffling and mumbled apology that one might have hoped for.
[11]International Space Station actually spun one-and-a-half times by errant Russian module's thrusters
[12]Russia says software malfunction caused Nauka module to unexpectedly fire thrusters, tilt space station
[13]International Space Station stabilizes after just-docked Russian module suddenly fires thrusters
[14]Have you turned it off and on again? Russia's Nauka module just about makes it to the ISS
Instead, Russian news mouthpiece TASS [15]went on the offensive , and brought up the mystery hole found drilled in the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft.
"Russian cosmonauts took a lie detector test to clear up the situation with a hole discovered on the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft while NASA astronauts rejected it, a high-ranking source in the domestic space industry told TASS," it said on 12 August.
The "high-ranking source" went on to say that the Russian side "received no possibility" to look at tools on the ISS for bits of Soyuz.
How the hole happened remains a mystery, although TASS quoted a "high-ranking source" again, [16]claiming that it must have been drilled on orbit. After all, the Soyuz passed a pressure test on Earth so it must have been done in orbit. Right?
[17]
Maybe. Or maybe an accident happened during manufacturing, the result of which was plugged before the pressure test. The pressures on orbit could then have popped out the bung. In the absence of a formal report (and it is now almost three years since the incident), who knows?
One thing is for sure, however, that "high-ranking source" can't be Roscosmos chief Rogozin.
Using the TASS mouthpiece in 2018, [18]he denied rumours that a NASA astronaut had made the hole in the hope of securing an early return to Earth. "We have never accused the Americans of that. It was an unscrupulous interpretation of certain statements and media reports. I categorically deny these allegations as totally untrue," he said.
NASA has yet to swat away the latest reports on TASS and did not respond to The Register's request for comment.
The days of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project seem a very long time ago now.
Roscosmos is keen to move on from the ISS and build a Lunar Station with China. NASA and its international chums have the Gateway lined up. The near-disaster of the Nauka screw-up coupled with the latest rumour-mongering from those "high-ranking" individuals is straining the lauded US-Russia ISS partnership.
At what point will mounting problems finally overwhelm NASA's carefully crafted political façade? ®
Get our [19]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/30/russia_iss_thrusters_software_glitch/
[2] https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2021/07/29/space-station-stable-after-earlier-unplanned-mlm-thruster-firing/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YRbrm6NPwYYeeG8pI@MbCgAAAI4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://twitter.com/explorer_flight/status/1420872744271495168
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YRbrm6NPwYYeeG8pI@MbCgAAAI4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YRbrm6NPwYYeeG8pI@MbCgAAAI4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/30/russia_iss_thrusters_software_glitch/
[8] https://spectrum.ieee.org/space-station-accident-needs-independant-investigation
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YRbrm6NPwYYeeG8pI@MbCgAAAI4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1s1irff
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/03/iss_thruster_spin/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/30/russia_iss_thrusters_software_glitch/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/30/iss_russia_nauka_module/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/29/nauka_docks/
[15] https://tass.com/science/1325247
[16] https://tass.com/science/1325275
[17] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YRbrm6NPwYYeeG8pI@MbCgAAAI4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[18] https://tass.com/science/1031588
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Obviously
Yet Another Anonymous coward
There's no evidence that Belgian hackers were responsible - isn't that suspicious?
Space woodpeckers…
Anonymous Coward
…made the hole. No question about that.
The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight
Imhotep
The Tass article went as far as suggesting that one of the American astronauts at the station became unhinged and drilled the hole to get an early ride home.
It has been bad enough watching the incompetence of RosCosmos endanger everyone at the station - is this the third major fail on their part?
But to follow that up with character asassination just reinforces the point that we really don't want them as a partner.
Let them focus on working with China.
Russia. Already on the verge of financial collapse, has to launch Nauka due to various ongoing treaties and contracts.
They cannot afford to say they can't afford it.
Then its a simple matter of sabotaging the ISS "just enough" you have a pretext to abandon the ISS entirely, claiming your cosmonauts aren't safe anymore.
Hey presto! savings! all without admitting how the Russian Economy is on the verge of a fall that will make 1929 look like someone dropped a pound coin down the toilet.