The accusations of American astronaut Serena Auñon-Chanslellor that she made a hole in the ISS are not credible, NASA spokeswoman Katie Luders said on Twitter.
“NASA astronauts, including Serena Auñon-Chancellor, are highly respected people who serve their country and make invaluable contributions to the agency's work. We support Serena and her professional behavior. We do not believe these accusations are credible, ”Lüders said.
Serena Auñon-Chancellor is an American astronaut who flew to the ISS aboard Soyuz in 2018. She was an engineer on the expedition. She spent 197 days in space.
During this flight, in August 2018, a drop in air pressure was detected on the ISS. Later, cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Sergei Prokopyev found a hole in the hull of the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft docked to the ISS. The head of Roskosmos Dmitry Rogozin stated that traces of metal dust remaining from drilling were found in the utility compartment of the ship.
Earlier, on August 12, TASS published an article entitled “Twelve Theses of American Claims to Roscosmos and Answers to Them.” In it, the author, in particular, analyzes the situation with the appearance of a hole in the household compartment of the Soyuz MS-09 on the ISS in 2018.
With reference to an anonymous interlocutor, the author pointed out that before the flight into space, Aunyon-Chancellor had a disease that “could provoke an acute psychological crisis”, and the crisis, in turn, “could lead to attempts in various ways to speed up her return to the planet “.
