By Tim Binnall
A tiny hole that was discovered in a Soyuz capsule attached to the ISS back in 2018 continues to be a very big problem for US-Russian space relations as the latter country has reportedly hinted that they could bring criminal charges against an American astronaut whom they have accused of causing the damage. The bizarre saga began three years ago when the 2-millimeters-in-diameter spot was found to be causing an air leak in the iconic space station. A pair of cosmonauts subsequently patched the hole and passed along their documentation of the damage to officials with the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
The mystery over who or what created the hole percolated for the next few years until it erupted into a major controversy this past August when an anonymous "high ranking official" with the space agency told a Russian media outlet that American astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor, who was aboard the ISS at the time, was to blame for the puzzling damage. The explanation put forward by this individual was that she had been suffering from an "an acute psychological crisis" brought about by health issues due to a blood clot and was attempting to hasten her return to Earth. The wild conspiracy theory was understandably met with considerable skepticism from NASA, which dismissed the claim and stressed their full support for Auñón-Chancellor.
And now in the latest twist to the very strange dispute, Roscosmos indicated this week that they have completed their investigation into the matter and have turned their findings over to Russian law enforcement officials, which could ultimately result in criminal charges being filed. Lest one think that their assessment may have changed, it would appear that the space agency has doubled down on their accusation of Auñón-Chancellor with a rather salacious new theory wherein the astronaut allegedly created the hole "due to stress after an unsuccessful romantic relationship with another crew member."
This new development has led to yet another repudiation from NASA with Administrator Bill Nelson declaring that "these attacks are false and lack any credibility." For their part, the space agency says that they were able to determine the exact location of all American astronauts aboard the ISS at the time that the hole was formed and that they were nowhere near the point of intrigue. As such, an alternative theory put forward by observers is that the accusations against Auñón-Chancellor are an attempt by Roscosmos to deflect attention from their own responsibility for the puzzling hole.