NASA Rejected Russia's Proposal to Jointly Probe Hole in Soyuz - Source

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - NASA did not accept the invitation of the Russian side to hold a joint investigation of August's incident when a hole was discovered in the hull of the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft, a source in the space industry told Sputnik.

"The active participation of international partners, primarily NASA, in the investigation is not expected, although we have called for a joint investigation and been ready to provide available materials: photos, videos, documents, samples of materials taken during the spacewalk," the source said.

The statement comes after Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko removed part of micrometeorite protection of the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft's hull and discovered a hole under it, according to reports from the Russian Mission Control Center (MCC), where the Russian cosmonauts' spacewalk is broadcast.

READ MORE: Russian Cosmonauts Find Hole in Soyuz Spacecraft During Spacewalk

In late August, the ISS crew discovered an insignificant air leak, caused by a microfracture on a wall of the living section of the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft, docked to the ISS. The hole was repaired on the same day restoring the hermetic integrity of the ISS.

Head of Russia's State Space Corporation Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin stated in early October that a commission investigating the appearance of the hole ruled out a manufacturing flaw as the cause of the incident.