Controllers in Moscow were carrying out post-dock reconfiguration procedures when the ferry module accidentally fired three hours after it was launched to the space station, causing the space station to spin out of control on Thursday. US Space Agency officials said the mission’s flight director immediately declared a ‘spacecraft emergency’. But Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin said the two incidents were not linked.
Roscosmos said in a statement that the drop in pressure was caused by a minor air leak in a separate transfer chamber of the ‘Zvezda Service Module’, followed by a rise in pressure over the next 24 hours.
Rogozin tweeted in response to media reports that, ‘The decline in the problematic Zvezda service module was expected, but it was not a ‘sharp’ drop and is not linked to the research module.’
“The pressure in the service module dropped on 29 July, the day the yacht research module was attached,” Rogozin tweeted. Although the decline was almost one-third of its level on July 14, but it will be increased.
He said air leaks in the Zvezda module, which provides habitat for crew members and life support systems, were detected only last year. But it poses no danger to the crew, but efforts are on to repair it by sealing the cracks.
Russia said on Friday that it was attributed to software glitches in the yacht research module and a possible lapse in human attention. Moved away from the usual place. Soon after, a ‘Spacecraft Emergency’ was declared.
Rogozin tweeted: “Russian research team re-entered the module on Saturday after air testing and cleaning.” Russia held a scientific council meeting on Saturday to discuss future use of the Russian segment of the space station, which was sent into orbit in 1998 and is scheduled to operate until 2028.
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