State of emergency in orbit: the temperature on board the Soyuz is knocked down by shadows

Roskosmos explained where in the ship it can now be at 50 degrees

A source in the space industry explained conflicting information about the temperature increase on the Soyuz MS-22 docked to the ISS.

In fact, 40-50 degrees, which RIA-Novosti announced on Friday afternoon, are correct data, but not for all compartments of the ship.

About the average temperature according to the Soyuz

Recall that on Thursday early in the morning there was a depressurization of the external radiator circuit of the Soyuz, from which technical fluid gushed into space for 10 minuteshttps://www.mk.ru/science/2022/12/16/after-chp-v -korable-soyuz-ms22-vocarilas-tridcatigradusnaya-zhara.html. As a result, the departure of Russian cosmonauts Sergei Prokopiev and Dmitry Petelin, scheduled for December 15, was canceled. As for the ship, the thermal regime has changed in it – the temperature inside has begun to rise.

On Friday, information appeared (it was distributed by RIA-Novosti with reference to an informed source) that the temperature inside the Soyuz had reached almost 50 degrees Celsius. The official Roscosmos soon denied these data, confirming the temperature increase to only 30 degrees: “On Friday, specialists from the Mission Control Center near Moscow, together with Russian cosmonauts at the station, conducted a number of tests of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft systems, including measuring the temperature in the living space of the spacecraft (descent vehicle and amenity compartment), where it was about +30 degrees Celsius. This is a slight change in temperature.” However, if you read this “refutation” carefully, you will notice that the temperature is measured only in the descent vehicle and the utility compartment. There was no mention of the instrument-assembly compartment (PAO). But it was in it, according to the MK source, that the temperature jumped to 40-50 degrees.

For astronauts who are not in the PJSC, there is no danger yet, the experts said. “While testing the ship, they really are in a place where the temperature only reaches 30 degrees. It’s hot, but not critical. If they are also sent a ventilation “sleeve” from the ISS module, it will be even more comfortable to be there.

The extreme temperature in the PAO can first of all threaten the failure of the instruments and the “brain” of the ship – the onboard digital computer (OCVM).

“If the onboard computer and other systems fail, the ship will be lost,” the source explained. However, he noted that, in principle, all vital systems are designed for a higher temperature increase, so the Soyuz has a margin of safety. In addition, the situation is saved by the fact that the station periodically, almost every hour, enters the shadow of the Earth. This allows the instrument-aggregate compartment to periodically cool naturally.

How could a hole

So far, the most common version of the occurrence of damage to the radiator is the collision of the ship with a micrometeorite. Sergey Krikalev, executive director for manned programs of Roscosmos, said this the day before. His words were confirmed by TASS leading engineer of the Institute of Applied Mathematics. Keldysh Viktor Voropaev, specifying from which meteor shower that micrometeorite could have come. The fact is that just on December 13-14, the peak of one of the strongest stellar rains of the year, the Geminid, was predicted, the flow density of which reaches 150 meteors per hour.

However, other reasons for the damage to the ship’s skin are not ruled out, to clarify which Roscosmos has already created a special commission.

As MK was told in the space industry, there has never been such a destruction of the heat supply system, and therefore there is no experience of parrying such a situation. However, experts do not panic, but develop a mechanism of action based on information coming from space, including photo and video footage of the radiator damage site, which Anna Kikina took the day before with the help of ERA’s automatic “hand”.