MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/. US specialists offered Russia help in the decent of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft’s crew to Earth aboard their spaceship but there is no need for this assistance, Roscosmos Chief Yury Borisov said on Tuesday.
"They [American colleagues] offer various options of assistance, including using their spaceships for returning our cosmonauts to Earth but today there is no need for this assistance," the Roscosmos chief said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV Channel.
On December 15, a drop in pressure in the Soyuz MS-22 manned spacecraft’s external cooling loop was recorded as Russian cosmonauts were preparing for their scheduled spacewalk. A visual inspection of the spacecraft from the orbital outpost confirmed the coolant leak, which cancelled the spacewalk.
As the Russian space agency reported, Roscosmos flight controllers conducted a series of tests of the Soyuz MS-22 spaceship’s systems, including a test of its propulsion control system that involved short-term activation of its berthing and attitude thrusters. The tests revealed that there were no other faults found.
On December 18, the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft’s external surface was inspected with the help of cameras aboard the space station. The analysis of the data transmitted to Earth helped detect a potential leak in the spacecraft’s instrumentation/equipment compartment. According to preliminary data, the damage could have been caused by a micrometeoroid or space debris striking the external cooling loop on the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft’s instrumentation/equipment compartment.