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Freeman [soylentnews.org] writes:

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/08/russias-space-program-just-threw-a-nasa-astronaut-under-the-bus/ [arstechnica.com]

Russia's state-owned news service, TASS, has published an extraordinarily defamatory article about NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor. The publication claims that Auñón-Chancellor had an emotional breakdown in space, then damaged a Russian spacecraft in order to return early. This, of course, is a complete fabrication.

The context for the article is the recent, near-disastrous docking [arstechnica.com] of the Russian Nauka science module with the International Space Station. The TASS article [tass.ru] attempts to rebut criticism in US publications (including Ars Technica [arstechnica.com]) that covered the incident and raised questions about the future of the Roscosmos-NASA partnership in space.

One of a dozen rebuttals in the TASS article concerns a 2018 incident—a 2 mm breach in the orbital module of the Soyuz MS-09 vehicle docked with the International Space Station. Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev, European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst, and NASA's Auñón-Chancellor had flown to the station inside this Soyuz in June. The leak was discovered in late August.

Previously:
Source of International Space Station Leak Still Not Found, NASA Says [soylentnews.org]
Cosmonauts Cut Into Soyuz Docked at the ISS During Nearly 8-Hour Spacewalk [soylentnews.org]
Roscosmos Completes Investigation into October Soyuz Failure, Finds Assembly Issue [soylentnews.org]
Controversy Over ISS Leak Continues, Spacewalk Planned for November [soylentnews.org]
NASA and Roscosmos Release Joint Statement on ISS Leak Amid Rumors [soylentnews.org]
Russian Space Chief Vows to Find "Full Name" of Technician Who Caused ISS Leak [soylentnews.org]

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