SPEAKING OF SPACE, RUSSIA HAS CONCERNS ABOUT THAT HOLE IN THE ISS
Speaking of space, what about that "hole" in the Russian Soyuz capsule docked at the International Space Station, originally thought to have been caused by a "micro-meteorite?" According to these two articles shared by Ms. M.K. and Mr. V.T., the head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, Dmitri Rogozin, is now claiming that the hole was drilled:
Russia suggests International Space Station 'leak' was DELIBERATE sabotage
Russia says space station leak may be sabotage
Citing the phys.org version of this story, one senses a bit of confusion on just who, and when, the hole was drilled:
"There were several attempts at drilling," Rogozin said late Monday in televised comments, adding that the drill appeared to have been held by a "wavering hand".
"What is this: a production defect or some premeditated actions?" he asked.
"We are checking the Earth version. But there is another version that we do not rule out: deliberate interference in space."
A state commission will seek to identify the culprit by name, Rogozin said, calling this a "matter of honour" for Russia's Energiya space manufacturing company that made the Soyuz.
Asked for comment on allegations of possible sabotage, a NASA spokeswoman referred all questions to the Russian space agency which is overseeing the commission's analysis.
- 'Strange stunt'-
Rogozin had said the hole in the side of the ship used to ferry astronauts was most likely caused from outside by a tiny meteorite, but later admitted it had been ruled out.
A Russian MP who is a former cosmonaut suggested that a psychologically disturbed astronaut could have done it to force an early return home.
"We're all human, and anyone might want to go home, but this method is really low," Maxim Surayev of President Vladimir Putin's ruling party, told RIA Novosti state news agency,
"If a cosmonaut pulled this strange stunt—and that can't be ruled out—it's really bad," said Surayev, who spent two stints on the ISS.
"I wish to God that this is a production defect, although that's very sad, too—there's been nothing like this in the history of Soyuz ships."
Alexander Zheleznyakov, a former space industry engineer and author, told TASS state news agency however that drilling the hole in zero gravity would be nearly impossible in that part of the spacecraft.
"Why would cosmonauts do it?" he asked.
The hole is in a section of the Soyuz ship that will not be used to carry astronauts back to Earth.
A space industry source told TASS that the spacecraft could have been damaged during testing at Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan after passing initial checks and the mistake was then hastily covered up.
"Someone messed up and then got scared and sealed up the hole," the source speculated, but then the sealant "dried up and fell off" when the Soyuz reached the ISS.
As the article notes, the hole appeared in a section of the Soyuz craft that will not return any astronauts or cosmonauts currently on the International Space Station to Earth. (There are currently two Russians, three Americans, and one German on the station.) The Daily Mail article, however, raises another disturbing question:
However, as the investigation went on it began to look like the hole was made from someone inside as opposed to outside, either back on Earth or in space, the Russian space agency claimed.
A leading theory from an unnamed source at Energia has said that the hole was made on the ground – potentially caused by 'deliberate interference' – with suggestions the person responsible may have already been identified.
...
'There were several attempts at drilling,' Rogozin said late Monday in televised comments.
He added that the drill appeared to have been held by a 'wavering hand.'
'What is this: a production defect or some premeditated actions?' he asked.
'We are checking the Earth version. But there is another version that we do not rule out: deliberate interference in space.'
...
Another anonymous source said the hole was not made intentionally but by a worker who hid their mistake with a seal instead of reporting it.
If it was made on the ground, it seems the patched hole held for two months before the seal began to break.
One source told RIS Novosti that 'the glue dried and was squeezed out, opening the hole'.
So in other words, there are currently two basic theories: (1) the hole was caused by a worker on the ground who attempted to conceal his mistake with a temporary seal, and (2) there was an act of deliberate sabotage, either on the ground, or in space.
What is noteworthy is that Mr. Rogozin appears to favor the second hypothesis, and this raises some nasty high octane speculative possibilities, and I am certain the reader probably already has most of those possibilities running through his mind: neither the Russian ground crews nor the Russian cosmonauts currently aboard the ISS would be likely to jeopardize their own country's space program, nor the reputation of reliability of the Soyuz space capsule, by committing an act of sabotage of this nature. What is noteworthy here is that we are not being told anything about the exact location of this hole, only that it is not in a section of the Soyuz that would return astronauts and cosmonauts to Earth. If it were located there, the results of the hole on re-entry into the Earth atmosphere at high velocity could be catastrophic. But what if we're not being told the truth of its location? After all, we've been lied to before. Either way, it wouldn't be the first time that Roscosmos has alleged sabotage of one of its spacecraft. Recall a few years ago the launch of the Russian Mars probe, Phobos Grunt, which in the wake of the publication of some stunning photos of the Martian moon Phobos by the European Space Agency, was to journey to that body, land, and perform several tests and experiments, including radar tomography of the inside of the Martian satellite (which, let it be recalled, was outgassing!) That probe "malfunctioned" shortly after launch, and a Russian general made the statement that it had been sabotaged, and also blamed it on an electromagnetic means of its sabotage, clearly implicating the USA.
Fast forward to the current hole in the ISS. German astronaut Alexander Gerst plugged the hole with his finger, until temporary repairs could be made. Did Gerst drill the hole so he could play the hero? Unlikely. And since the Russian cosmonauts would have been highly unlikely to have done so and thus cause embarrassment to their own country's space program, that leaves the American astronauts. Would they have done so? Perhaps, and given the high tensions between the USA and Russia, it cannot entirely be ruled out. But this too is highly unlikely, since it would require someone to drill the hole in the small confines of the International Space Station, and not be noticed by other crew members.
Which leaves a ground based sabotage, if indeed sabotage is what happened. If so, the motive seems clear: someone wants to put the entire Russian manned space program under suspicion, since Russia, along with China, is currently the only nation that has its own public manned space program. And if sabotage was involved, then that means the perpetrator could be working for just about any other power with an interest in space.
Time, of course, will tell, but that presumes, once again, that we'll be told the truth.
See you on the -
- oh, I almost forgot. Don't forget the Russians recently indicated they'd no longer be transporting Americans in their capsules (a kind of "manned mission space blockade"). Not mind you (cough cough wink wink) that this might have anything to do with this story. After all, we can always hitch a ride from the Chinese.
See you on the flip side...
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Show us the high res photos of this hole… oh, we no longer trust any media any more with AI doctoring..
My guess is Dr Smith? (/lost in space original TV series). I hear he was a dentist and standby for Mengele in Marathon Man.
I agree with goshawks — vodka.
I also recall reading about it a while back. Not sure if it is connected to Dr. Joseph and a dozen or more scientists who joined him in a lawsuit filed in North California US District Court around 2 years ago. Just got home and will dig for article after I get some sleep.
can’t be debris. gotta be an exit wound if such is the entry. how would one of the passengers drill it in flight? interesting that it was patched. more interesting that someone drilled it. badly. so we got sabotage and not as good as might be expected quality control. hmm
in a completely unrelated – ok nothing is unrelated – anyone hear about elon musk smoking dope with joe rogan and driving down the price of tesla 9% in one day just after he tried and failed to take it public?
and in another almost unrelated matter – has anyone here heard the theory that atlantis and richat structure are the same spot? yt thought i’d like this:
www dot youtube dot com/watch?v=oDoM4BmoDQM
apparently there’s a freemasonic vid floating around out there that prompted bright insight to make this video.
cheers
https://visitingatlantis.com/
. . . Human caused orbital space debris (space pollution or space junk) is an increasing problem ever since the 1950’s, right along with terrestrial air pollution, water pollution, and land pollution. . . The retired Space Shuttle fleet has had strikes on its protective shields and windows. . . One window cost $50,000.00 to replace, in 1983 dollars, before that same shuttle could relaunch for a subsequent mission – That was just a window that got hit with a fleck of debris – That time no loss of crew. . . That same shuttle later failed catastrophically. . .
. . . More debris has been caused by colliding satellites and fine meteorites striking left over satellites long since off-line or failed resulting in even more flying projectiles or obstacles, but what that photo angle shows looks to be a concentric hole like what has been suggested – A drill hole. . . Establishing cause and / or intent, is another matter for the investigative team charged with determining causality and fault without malice involved. . .
. . . In one’s humble opinion, pressure and vacuum checks might need to be modified for pressure / vacuum outside in – inside out, to include heat / cold extremes. . . Some checks are such already. . . If patching is allowed, something that could have been the case, there might need to be a replacement considered instead, no matter the insignificance of a mistake thought by a construction technician or manufacturing change mid-construction which might need patching. . . One article mentions ground based welding to fix an error or that the drill hole. . .
. . . The Russian space agency seems to have addressed some of the problems it’s found and probably educated its manufacturing suppliers and staff that any future corrective measures be met with appropriate materials and methods as well as more rigorous standards in mind. . . What can be done about shoddy workmanship, corruption, a failing quality assurance program lacking personal reliability standards, and just plain mistakes out of ignorance, one does not know. . . Possibly, better designs and materials to budget that consider human error stifling a mishap before it even manifests as a problem or disaster. . .
. . . This space adventure and literal experiment of human endurance as well as technological longevity of equipment and materials into near weightlessness and low orbital platform is a learning process for Russian built equipment and improvements, too, as well as for manned US experiments into the outer reaches of earth orbit. . . Even re-organization of removable parts, supplies, and expendable trash items onboard the station need consideration because of particle breakdown of plastics and other constructed articles of the missions. . . Weightlessness on manufactured items taken into space are still being assessed for durability and effects of presence there. . .
. . . Personally, I think liquid / solid rocket propellant is already a high-risk factor best eliminated considering what can be shook apart due to unforeseen probabilities and calculations of forces and stresses. . . What will still show up one does not know, but the potential of successful missions and disasters up there remain, one launch at a time, one experiment at a time, one orbit at a time. . .
I hope the Chinese “Smarter” enough to deal with the hitch a riders…..
If someone thinks the space station is obsolete and should be replaced you think they would go about replacing it and sabotage would not be among the options. This is all beginning to look like a scene out of Fullmetal Alchemist the state alchemists in the USSA must be desperate to complete their philosopher stone.
arsTechnica has an okay article on this topic (even have a photo of the hole), but a treasure-trove of intelligent comments (over 300 at last look):
https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/09/russian-space-chief-vows-to-find-full-name-of-technician-who-caused-iss-leak/
(Ars is tricky: Excellent, informed posters, but they have a nailed-down view of the universe and politics. Post something ‘exotic’ and you will be bashed and downvoted to oblivion…)
Ars posters have demonstrated that the drilling must have been done on the ground. It was done by a hand-held drill, and amateurishly (three separate ‘chatter’ marks). A glue or epoxy was then applied to the hole. The capsule went through a pressure test, and passed. After the capsule was in orbit for weeks, the ‘plug’ outgassed, shrunk, and eventually failed. (There was no danger to the crew, as the station would have taken 14 days to depressurize.)
There is probably an 80/20 view that the driller was incompetent/drunk rather than this was a sabotage attempt. The major outrage is at the ‘quality assurance’ side of the company, for not catching the screw-up…
Just reading the first paragraph I have to interject this: portends an array of sabotage GLADIO ops coming-out all across the board; across the black seas[space], and the new silk road. Also, I can’t help but think, that the human vs bot integrity will come into the market equation: that human equals obsolete & untrustworthy.
Does it come down to whose paying the most?
Again, an economy based upon “money”
instead of “living wealth” is insanity.
Penguin to Joker: You could escape anytime.
Your planning something?
Joker: Something spectacular! When we’re done –
the world out there – that will be our asylum.
Does anybody remember the story about the ISS supposedly being infested by some sort of pernicious mould? Of course they can’t just open the windows to air the place. Was that just more disinfo and/or pure invention too?
I DO recall that, now that you mention it. Something is “up” up there, and whatever it is, it seems as if someone is trying to sabotage things.