Russian Space Craft Lost Air Pressure During Re-Entry
An air leak on a space craft? If this was really a pressure leak, it would be the first in more than 30 years. Now members of NASA are worried about the airtightness of the Soyuz TMA-7 spacecraft that was launched Oct. 1 and is currently docked to the station as a landing vehicle. Not good when space ships aren’t air tight, but thank the higher powers for space suits.
As the Soyuz descent module headed back to Earth, instruments indicated that air was leaking out ? the same kind of failure that killed three cosmonauts in June 1971 on their way home from the world?s first space station, Russia’s Salyut 1. Since that tragedy, all passengers aboard Soyuz spacecraft have worn pressure suits during such mission-critical phases. Had Monday?s air leak been severe enough, the suits would have saved the men?s lives
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