The International Space Station (ISS) has lost orientation not because of a technical problem. Russia is looking for a problem related to the incorrect procedure on Earth, follows from the negotiations of the crew with the Earth, which are broadcast by NASA.
“Moscow is looking for a problem that is related to an incorrect procedure on Earth, not a technical problem. They continue preparations for undocking the Soyuz according to the plan, ”said a specialist at the NASA Mission Control Center (quoted by RIA Novosti).
A NASA spokesman said that the flight controllers from the Russian side at 12:02 pm on October 15, Moscow time, conducted a planned test firing of the Soyuz MS-18 engines. However, the engines continued to turn on “after the test window was closed.” This resulted in a loss of control over the orientation of the ISS.
Mission controllers continue to evaluate the station's loss of orientation, a NASA spokesman said. “We and Roskosmos are cooperating to establish the root causes of what happened,” said a spokesman for the TASS space agency.
Soyuz MS-18 is to return the film crew, which is filming episodes of the feature film Challenge in orbit. RSC Energia noted that there is no threat to the crew. The return of Soyuz MS-18 is scheduled for the previous date – on Sunday night.
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