Pierced Canadarm2

The Canadarm2 of the International Space Station in front of Earth captured on 2 December 2023 by ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen. When Andreas shared the picture on social media, he said:

"Micrometeorites and space debris, while creating beautiful shooting stars upon re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, pose a genuine threat to the ISS and satellites. Recently, a micrometeorite struck the Nauka science module’s external radiator, causing a leak of 72 liters of coolant and as a result, cancelled our spacewalk due to concerns about spacesuit contamination from the coolant. My spacewalk is tentatively planned for January or February next year.

I recently saw the destructive power of impacts when photographing the space station’s robotic arm. It looks quite dramatic! The hole was made in 2021, where a 1 mm object, traveling at over 25,000 km/h relative to the Space Station hit the robotic arm. Fortunately, no critical components were damaged.

If such an impact hits a pressurized module, depressurization could occur. Most of the modules have shielding against smaller impacts, but it is not strong enough to withstand impacts against larger ones. This is why we repeatedly practice emergency scenarios, including depressurization."

Visit Huginn mission page to learn more about Andreas' mission.