Russian Cosmonauts Inspect Hole in Soyuz MS-09 Outside Space Station (VIDEO)

The small fracture on the hull of the Soyuz spacecraft was found after an air leak occurred on the ISS in late August. The cosmonauts subsequently patched the hole, while Roscosmos and the spacecraft manufacturer Energia have launched probes to determine how the hole appeared.

Russian astronauts Sergei Prokopyev and Oleg Kononenko perform a six-hour spacewalk close to the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday in an attempt to study a "mysterious" hole in the hull of the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft which resulted in an air leak.

Kononenko is expected to open the thermal blanket covering the patched hole and take samples that will be later studied by ground experts. He will then re-seal the hole with a new thermal insulation patch.

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