There has been very little mass media coverage of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft failing while at the International Space Station. The Soyuz had a severe coolant leak. It had already delivered to Russian and an American astronaut.
Imagine if this was a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked at the Space Station. There would be a lot more coverage. It is difficult to find any info at the NASA site.
The Russian spacecraft failure means that either a backup Soyuz operated by the European Space Agency will need to be used or returning astronauts would have to fly on the SpaceX Dragon.
The Soyuz spacecraft on the International Space Station suffered a severe coolant leak on Dec. 15. A decision about whether it is safe to send the crew back to Earth on it will come in January, Russia has said. If a rescue Soyuz craft is needed it could only come in February, two or three weeks before the normal changeover in March.
NASA is apparently considering using SpaceX, the only company currently flying astronauts into space from American soil, as a backup if these options don’t work out.
The cause of the leak is unknown. The current most likely reason is space debris or a micrometeroid hit the radiator where there is a hole.
Brian Wang er en futuristisk tankeleder og en populær Science blogger med 1 million læsere om måneden. Hans blog Nextbigfuture.com er rangeret som #1 Science News Blog. Det dækker mange forstyrrende teknologi og tendenser, herunder rum, robotik, kunstig intelligens, medicin, anti-aging bioteknologi og nanoteknologi.
Han er kendt for at identificere banebrydende teknologier og er i øjeblikket medstifter af en opstart og fundraiser til virksomheder med et højt potentiale på et tidligt stadium. Han er forskningschef for tildelinger til dybe teknologiske investeringer og en engelinvestor hos Space Angels.
Han har været en hyppig foredragsholder i virksomheder og har været TEDx -højttaler, en Singularity University -højttaler og gæst ved adskillige interviews til radio og podcasts. Han er åben for offentlige taler og rådgivende engagementer.
