Russia threatens criminal charges against a NASA astronaut



The hole in the vehicle that docked to the International Space Station was photographed.

The Russian space corporation, Roscosmos, said it has completed an investigation into a "hole" found in a Soyuz spacecraft when it was docked to the International Space Station.

The results of the investigation have been sent to law enforcement officials, according to the Russian publication RIA Novosti. Law Enforcement officials received the results of the investigation into the hole in the habitation module. There was no further information provided.

In Russia, the results of an investigation are sent to law enforcement to determine if or not to file a criminal case. Russia does not have a grand jury system like the United States, where investigators give their evidence to prosecutors.

The August incident has embarrassed Russian space officials. The International Space Station was docked with the SoyuzMS-09 vehicle at the time of the 2mm breach. Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev, Alexander Gerst, and NASA's Serena Aun-Chancellor were all on the station in June.

The station would have been depressurized in about two weeks if the hole had not been left unattended. The hole was patched with a substance called epoxy, and the three astronauts were able to return to Earth at the end of their mission.

Who did it?

The focus has been on who may have caused the hole. The most plausible theory is that the hole was caused by a manufacturing or testing defect. Sources in the Russian government started rumors that a disgruntled NASA astronaut had drilled the hole.

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The Russian state news service published accusations that Aun-Chancellor had an acute psychological crisis after suffering a deep vein thrombosis in space and trying to get back to Earth. NASA was against those claims at the time.

Russian officials have now come up with a new conspiracy theory after the conclusion of the investigation. According to the article, Aun-Chancellor may have drilled the hole due to stress after an unsuccessful romantic relationship with another crew member.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told Ars that the attacks on Aun-Chancellor are false. I support Serena and all of our astronauts.

Russian provocations.

These attacks are not true. The agency's space station program was able to determine that the pressures began falling on the space station in late August. The exact locations of the US astronauts on the station were known by NASA before the leak began. US officials shared this data with Russians.

This latest provocation comes at a perilous time, as NASA officials and the astronauts office are incensed by charges like these. After Russia shot down its own satellite as part of a test, the astronauts on the space station had to shelter in their craft for more than two hours. The spacewalk was canceled at the last minute due to debris concerns, although it was not immediately clear if this was related to the collision of the Cosmos 1408 and the Ariane 5.

The United States and Russia have been partners in space for more than 30 years. The space alliance is falling apart due to tensions caused by Russian provocations.

Nelson is going to meet with Russia's space chief in Russia next year. Maybe Rogozin will use that time to explain the country's actions against NASA.