By: Andrew Lu

Scientists recently discovered a particle leak in a Russian space capsule, the Soyuz, currently docked at the International Space Station. The space agency canceled a spacewalk by two Russian astronauts in December, and just this Wednesday, they declared an emergency; a retrieval mission must be completed to save the astronauts on board.

It all happened when a white particle leak was detected by researchers on Dec. 14th. Then, we learned that it was the coolant, so it made the craft unsafe for astronauts to return. Temperatures inside the craft could reach hundreds of degrees if they attempt re-entry.

The Soyuz is the only model the Russian space agency uses for runs to the space center. The one currently docked arrived in September, carrying three astronauts, one from NASA and two from Russia. Unfortunately, these astronauts may have to remain in space for a few more months.

The next Soyuz will launch on Feb. 20th, passengerless, and the current one will make its journey back to Earth with at most a bit of cargo.

Most likely, the Russian space program will send an empty Soyuz to the ISS in February. “This is the next Soyuz that was scheduled to fly in March. It’ll just fly a little earlier,” said Joel Montalbano, the space station program manager at NASA, during a news conference on Wednesday.

If something goes wrong before the Soyuz arrives, the current Soyuz and the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsules will serve as emergency capsules for the crew.

Sergei Krikalev, executive director of the human spaceflight program for Roscosmos, said that the damage was done by a micrometeoroid, approximately the diameter of one millimeter.

He also mentioned that the damage is unrepairable.

Let’s hope for the best for the brave astronauts on board and for the space agencies to successfully evacuate the astronauts from the space station.