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Russian cosmonauts are about to try and solve the mystery of how an unexplained hole managed to appear in the outside of the International Space Station .
The crew will head outside the floating lab and try and inspect the section where a mysterious leak into space was discovered.
Since it was found in the summer, the hole in the Russian Soyuz spacecraft has been responsible initially for grave concern for the astronauts, and then worries about the security of those responsible for the station. Crews rushed to fill in the hole, sealing it up and stopping the leak that was reducing pressure in the floating lab, leaving officials believing that it was now safe to be on the ISS.
But concerns have continued about how the hole came to be, with some suggesting sabotage from US astronauts while others worried it had been accidentally drilled while the capsule was being made.
Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Sergei Prokopyev will conduct a six-hour spacewalk to inspect the Soyuz's outer surface. They will uncover the thermal insulation covering the patched hole and take samples that will be studied by experts.
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Kononenko, who arrived at the station earlier this month with NASA astronaut Anne McClain and David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency, said in a pre-flight interview that the spacewalk would be a strenuous effort.
"It's going to be challenging both physically and technically," he said.
Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin said in September that the hole could have been drilled during manufacture or while in orbit. He didn't say if he suspected any of the crew, but the statement has caused some bewilderment.
Rogozin has since backpedaled on his statement, saying that he never pointed the finger at U.S. astronauts and blaming the media for twisting his statement.
He said recently that the Russian official probe is ongoing and some of the station's crew who are set to come back to Earth on 20 December will take the samples that are collected during the spacewalk. Rogozin added that Roscosmos will discuss the probe findings with NASA and other space station partners.
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