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Weird ISS leak brings NASA, Roscosmos leaders together for first time

Russia and the US are parleying about that mystery hole in the space station.

Amanda Kooser
Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto.
Amanda Kooser
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The ISS is just fine after a small pressure leak. 

NASA

Space debris? A drill? An accident? We're not entirely sure yet what created a tiny hole in a Soyuz spacecraft attached to the International Space Station, but we do know leaders from the top space agencies in the US and Russia are talking about it.

NASA and Roscosmos issued a joint statement on Thursday to let the world know NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine and Roscosmos general director Dmitry Rogozin met for the first time via teleconference. The chat happened on Wednesday and centered on the status of ISS operations.

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Cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev points to the repair location in the Soyuz spacecraft.

Video screenshot by Amanda Kooser/CNET

Rogozin filled Bridenstine in on Russia's establishment of a committee to investigate the cause of the hole, which created an air pressure leak in late August. The crew was never in danger and repaired the hole shortly after it was located. 

The space agency leaders "agreed on deferring any preliminary conclusions and providing any explanations until the final investigation has been completed." 

Bridenstine and Rogozin also agreed to a first face-to-face meeting in October when the NASA administrator will travel to Kazakhstan for a Soyuz crew spacecraft launch to the ISS. 

Roscomos previously said it hopes to conclude its investigation by mid-September. Russian news agency TASS had quoted Rogozin as suggesting the hole was created by a person with a drill, but details are still lacking. 

Roscosmos released a video earlier this week with cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev showing the repair site and assuring us that everything is fine up in orbit. 

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