It looked like it was snowing in space: in spectacular images broadcast by Nasa TV early Thursday morning German time, a jet of white flakes could be seen spraying into space from a Soyuz capsule on the International Space Station.
Apparently, liquid escaped uncontrolled and under high pressure from a cooling system of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft.
This has been attached to the station since September of this year.
Originally, cosmonauts Sergei Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin were supposed to be on a field mission to the ISS at about the same time.
This was initially canceled due to technical problems.
Both had already donned their space suits at this point and were in the vacuum airlock.
Due to problems with the coolant pumps in the suits, the exit had previously had to be postponed.
Now the risk was obviously too great that the astronauts could come into contact with the liquid.
This danger has been averted, but the surfaces of the station modules, and possibly also the sensors, could have been temporarily soiled.
But another point is more important: Do Prokopjew, Petelin and the American Frank Rubio, who also flew to the space station with them, have a way at all to return to Earth?
Actually, the three men should not land in the Kazakh steppes until the end of March next year.
But the space capsules on the ISS also function as lifeboats.
In the event of problems, they really need to be able to bring the crew home at any time.
Even if the station is threatened by space debris, not least due to an internationally criticized satellite shot down by the Russians a year ago, the crew can get to safety in the capsules - in order to be able to cast off quickly if necessary.
Nasa and Roskosmos give the all-clear – for the time being
However, it is now unclear whether the Soyuz MS-22 can still fulfill this task.
The capsule cannot be used for the return flight without a functioning cooling system, which, among other things, dissipates excess heat from the electronics on board.
Otherwise there would be a risk that the astronauts on board would die from overheating.
The space station is "in good condition" and the crew is safe, the US space agency Nasa tweeted.
Roskosmos explained on Telegram that at the moment "all systems of the ISS and the spacecraft are working normally", the crew is safe.
"After analyzing the situation, a decision will be made on further action by both the specialists on Earth and the crew members of the Russian segment of the ISS."
In principle, it would be possible to send a new spacecraft from the ground as soon as it is ready for use.
Soyuz capsules can automatically dock at the space station.
However, three of the four theoretically usable docking points are occupied: the one now blocked by Soyuz MS-22 on the "Rassvet" research module.
Two other docks are used by Russian "Progress" unmanned space freighters.
Before a decision can be made on how to proceed, those responsible first have to understand what exactly happened and how serious the problem could be.
A petitesse, so much can be said, is the hour-long escape of coolant by no means.
Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina also used the European robotic arm to photograph the affected area on the Soyuz.
Robot arm from Europe important for analysis
The arm is attached to the Russian research module »Nauka«.
The former head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, had actually planned to stop using it at all.
He wanted to punish the Europeans, who had largely terminated cooperation in space after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The decision has been revised.
Now the device apparently turned out to be useful for the Russians.
Cosmonaut Kikina flew to the ISS in an American SpaceX capsule in October.
In case of doubt, she would remain as the only representative of Russia on the ISS, should Prokopyev and Petelin return unscheduled together with Rubio.
Proper operation of the Russian segment is important to the station, such as trajectory control.
Even at an altitude of around 400 kilometers, the ISS is still slowed down by the foothills of the earth's atmosphere and therefore has to be raised regularly.
So far, Russian spaceships have been responsible for this.
Spicy detail: The space blogger Katya Pavluschchenko, citing former Roscosmos press chief Dmitry Strugovets, reports that the cosmonauts had to send the video recordings of the Soyuz leak to Earth using the US communications system.
The Russian satellite network "Luch" that was actually responsible for this had collapsed.
