Russian cosmonauts spacewalkers complete crew vehicle inspection.
Two Russian cosmonauts have taken samples of their capsule's exterior in the sixth hour of a spacewalk seeking to resolve the mystery of a small hole found in the craft docked at the International Space Station, a live broadcast by Russian space agency Roscosmos showed early on Wednesday.
Roscosmos has ruled out a manufacturing defect causing the 2 mm-wide holes found in August on the Russian Soyuz capsule, but NASA has sought to dampen speculation of sabotage.
The puncture has since been sealed, halting the oxygen leak. Officials said the crew - three US astronauts, two Russian cosmonauts and one German - were never in danger.
Oleg Kononenko and Sergey Prokofiev's spacewalk, originally expected to last for six hours, began at 1600 GMT on Tuesday.
After more than five hours of a rare broadcast - showing the cosmonauts in space trying to cut through an insulating of the spacecraft with a knife - they uncovered the external part of the hole, originally discovered in the capsule's internal covering, and took samples of the exterior insulation.
In line with the instructions from the control centre, they also took pictures of the external side of the hole.
"It is time to go home," a voice from the control centre said shortly before the cosmonauts started moving back toward the space station.
Russia's space agency Roscosmos has ruled out a manufacturing defect causing the 2 mm-wide hole found in August on the Russian Soyuz capsule, but NASA has sought to dampen speculation of sabotage.
Oleg Kononenko and Sergey Prokopyev's six-hour-long spacewalk began at 1600 GMT, a live broadcast by Roscosmos showed.
1. Cosmonauts spacewalk for 7 hours, 45 minutes
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Cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Sergey Prokopyev completed a spacewalk lasting 7 hours and 45 minutes to inspect the Soyuz crew vehicle.
Photo Credits: Reuters
2. Spacewalk outside International Space Station
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Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko conducts a spacewalk outside the International Space Station Space (ISS) in this still image captured from NASA video in space, December 11, 2018.
Photo Credits: Reuters
3. Small hole found in craft docked at ISS
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Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Sergey Prokopyev conduct a spacewalk outside the International Space Station Space (ISS) in this still image captured from NASA video in space, December 11, 2018.
Photo Credits: Reuters
Spacewalkers spot the patched hole on the hull of the Soyuz crew vehicle where a pressure leak was detected and fixed in August. #AskNASA | https://t.co/yuOTrYN8CV pic.twitter.com/Rt37VmvVZ1
— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) December 11, 2018
4. Russian spacewalkers inspect crew vehicle
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Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Sergey Prokopyev conduct a spacewalk outside the International Space Station Space (ISS) in this still image captured from NASA video in space, December 11, 2018.
Photo Credits: Reuters
Two spacewalkers work 263 miles above Earth performing a high-flying vehicle inspection on a Soyuz crew ship that will return three Exp 57 crew members home next week. #AskNASA | https://t.co/yuOTrYN8CV pic.twitter.com/FLH2bNzXDf
— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) December 11, 2018
