 Soyuz MS-09 docked to theRassvet module | |
| Mission type | ISS crew transport |
|---|---|
| Operator | Roscosmos |
| COSPAR ID | 2018-051A |
| SATCATno. | 43493 |
| Mission duration | 196 days, 17 hours, 50 minutes |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Soyuz MS No. 739 |
| Spacecraft type | Soyuz MS (11F747) |
| Manufacturer | Energia |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 3 |
| Members | Sergey Prokopyev Alexander Gerst Serena Auñón-Chancellor |
| Callsign | Altai |
| Expedition | Expedition 56 /57 |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 6 June 2018, 11:12:41 (2018-06-06UTC11:12:41Z) UTC[1] |
| Rocket | Soyuz-FG |
| Launch site | Baikonur,Pad 1/5 |
| Contractor | RKTs Progress |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | 20 December 2018, 05:02:00 (2018-12-20UTC05:03Z) UTC[2] |
| Landing site | Kazakh Steppe[2] |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Docking withISS | |
| Docking port | Rassvet nadir |
| Docking date | 8 June 2018, 13:01 UTC |
| Undocking date | 20 December 2018, 01:42 UTC[2] |
| Time docked | 194 days, 12 hours, 41 minutes |
 Mission insignia  From left:Prokopyev,Gerst andAuñón-Chancellor | |
Soyuz MS-09 was aSoyuz spaceflight that launched on 6 June 2018.[1] It transported three members of theExpedition 56/57 crew to theInternational Space Station (ISS).MS-09 is the 138th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft. The crew consisted of a Russian commander along with an American and a German flight engineer. The mission ended at 05:02 UTC on 20 December 2018.
| Position | Crew | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander |  Sergey Prokopyev,RoscosmosExpedition 56/57 First spaceflight | |
| Flight engineer |  Alexander Gerst,ESAExpedition 56/57 Second spaceflight | |
| Flight engineer |  Serena Auñón-Chancellor,NASAExpedition 56/57 Only spaceflight | |
| Position[3] | Crew | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander | Oleg Kononenko, Roscosmos | |
| Flight engineer |  David Saint-Jacques,CSA | |
| Flight engineer | Anne McClain, NASA | |
During the night of 29 August 2018,[4] a small air leak in the ISS was noticed by ground control. A 2 mm (0.079 in) hole in theorbital module was discovered,[5] later stated to have been "hidden with a low-quality patch job".[6] Russian crew members usedKapton tape to temporarily seal the leak while a permanent fix was devised. The leak was successfully sealed with the use of a repair kit based on anepoxy sealant, and no further changes in air pressure were noted as of 31 August.[5][7] On 4 September 2018, it was announced that the hole was created by a drill, but it was unclear if it was accidental or deliberate.[8] Russian officials indicated the hole was some kind of sabotage, perhaps during the module's manufacturing process.[6] Russian officials even speculated that one of the NASA crew members had drilled the hole.[9]
On 11 December 2018,Oleg Kononenko and Sergey Prokopyev conducted anEVA, cutting into the thermal blankets and pulling away insulation in order to examine the external hull, take images of the area and retrieve samples of residue to be used in the investigation. As the hole was in the orbital module that is jettisoned before re-entry, the return flight was not endangered.[10] The return of theMS-09 crew was briefly delayed by the launch failure ofSoyuz MS-10 (until the arrival of the next crew onMS-11).MS-09 landed on 20 December at about 05:03 UTC.[2]
Further reports and investigations were enacted thereafter.[11] Prokopyev was quoted as saying that the drill hole was made from the inside, but it is unclear when it was made.[12] (According to NASA officials, they know exactly when the leak began and no US astronauts were reportedly near the Russian segment, where the Soyuz was docked.)[13] In September 2019, the head of Roscosmos,Dmitry Rogozin, claimed that Roscosmos knows exactly what happened but that the agency would keep this information secret.[14] On 20 April 2021, major Russian language tabloidMoskovskij Komsomolets published an article citing a Facebook post by Vadim Lukashevich which claimed that the hole was drilled bySerena Auñón-Chancellor, after ablood clot developed in herjugular vein (a medical case which did occur),[15][16] which was disputed by NASA and called "preposterous" byArs Technica.[17] The results of a Roscosmos investigation were later handed over to "law enforcement authorities" in late 2021, with state media promoting a new theory: that Auñón-Chancellor drilled the hole while "due to suffering [psychologically] after a failed romantic relationship with one of the crew members".[18]
_Oleg_Kononenko.jpg)
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