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Russia finds ISS hole made deliberately: space chief
MOSCOW, Oct 2, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Russian investigators looking into the
origin of a hole that caused an oxygen leak on the International Space
Station have said it was caused deliberately, the space agency chief said.
A first commission had delivered its report, Dmitry Rogozin, the head of
the Russian space agency Roskosmos, said in televised remarks late Monday.
“It concluded that a manufacturing defect had been ruled out which is
important to establish the truth.”
Rogozin said the commission’s main line of inquiry was that the hole had
been drilled deliberately, a position that has been voiced in the past.
“Where it was made will be established by a second commission, which is at
work now,” he said.
The small hole in the wall of a Russian-made Soyuz space capsule docked
onto the ISS was located in August and quickly sealed up.
Officials have suggested a number of possible reasons for the appearance of
the hole.
A top government official has denied a Russian media report that the
investigation looked at the possibility that US astronauts had drilled the
hole in order to get a sick colleague sent back to Earth.
The current ISS commander, US astronaut Drew Feustel, called the suggestion
that the crew was somehow involved “embarrassing”.
Rogozin — who previously oversaw the space industry as deputy prime
minister — was appointed head of Roskosmos last May, in a move analysts said
would spell trouble for the embattled sector.
The official, who was placed under US sanctions over the Ukraine crisis in
2014, admitted it had become difficult to work with NASA.
“Problems with NASA have certainly appeared but not through the fault of
NASA,” he said, blaming unnamed American officials for telling the US space
agency what to do.
He also claimed that SpaceX founder Elon Musk sought to squeeze Russia out
of the space launch services market and complained about the US military
drone X-37.
“Americans have this thing, the X-37,” Rogozin said. “We don’t understand
its purposes. Rather, we do understand, but we have not received an official
explanation.
“Essentially, this thing can be used as a weapons carrier.”
BSS/AFP/BZC/1835HRS