---
title: "NASA Alarmed to See Flakes Drifting Past Space Station Window"
description: "The space station's Russian segment has sprung yet another coolant leak, the third in less than a year, raising questions about reliability."
date: "2023-10-10"
modified: "2023-10-10"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-flakes-space-station"
categories:
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "international space station"
  - "nauka module"
  - "Russia"
  - "the digest"
---

# NASA Alarmed to See Flakes Drifting Past Space Station Window

![The space station's Russian segment has sprung yet another coolant leak, the third in less than a year, raising questions about reliability.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/nasa-flakes-space-station.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA / Futurism\</em\>*

## Flake Haste

The International Space Station's Russian segment has [sprung yet another leak](<https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/oct/09/leak-from-international-space-station-poses-no-danger-to-crew-says-russia>) — the third in less than a year — raising urgent questions about the reliability of the country's space program.

The leak was traced back to an 11-year-old backup radiator circuit installed on Russia's Nauka module, according to a [Telegram update](<https://t.me/s/roscosmos_gk>) by Russia's space agency Roscosmos.

As the drama unfolded, NASA ground control in Houston had a troubling question for crew members on board the orbital outpost.

"Hi, we’re seeing flakes outside, we need a crew to go to the cupola, we think windows five or six, and confirm any visual flakes," mission control told astronauts on the US segment on Monday, as [quoted by *Agence France-Presse*](<https://www.sciencealert.com/coolant-leak-on-iss-raises-concerns-over-russian-space-program>).

"There's a leak coming from the radiator on \[the Nauka module\]," NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli replied.

## Radiator Hospital

Fortunately, none of the station's crew members were ever in any danger, NASA later [confirmed in a statement](<https://scitechdaily.com/nasa-detects-leak-on-international-space-station/>).

The damage also appears to be minimal.

"The primary radiator on Nauka is working normally, providing full cooling to the module with no impacts to the crew or to space station operations," the space agency said, though it conceded that astronauts had to close the shutters of the US segment's windows as a "precaution against contamination."

Most striking is that it's the *third* coolant leak to hit the Russian segment in a matter of less than a year. In December of last year, Russian cosmonauts spotted a Soyuz spacecraft docked to the station [spewing coolant into space uncontrollably](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/russian-spacecraft-iss-leak>). Then in February, another spacecraft docked to the station [started leaking](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/another-russian-spacecraft-docked-iss-leak>), causing the cargo spacecraft to depressurize.

"One is whatever, two is a coincidence, three is something systematic," Harvard astronomer and space expert Jonathan McDowell told *AFP*.

More broadly, the latest leak should give anybody pause about Russia's continued presence on the Space Station, since everybody needs to cooperate up there to keep things operational.

"It really just emphasizes the degrading reliability of Russian space systems," McDowell added. "When you add it to the context of their failed Moon probe in August, they're not looking great."

**More on the ISS:** *[China's Doubling the Size of Its Space Station](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/chinas-doubling-size-space-station>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)