Investigators To Get Punctured Soyuz MS-09' Swipe Samples Next Day After Landing - Source

The swipe samples from the habitation module of the punctured Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft will be transferred to competent agencies the next day after the spacecraft returns to Earth, a source in the space industry told Sputnik on Friday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th December, 2018) The swipe samples from the habitation module of the punctured Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft will be transferred to competent agencies the next day after the spacecraft returns to Earth, a source in the space industry told Sputnik on Friday.

"Samples of the sealant, swipe samples from the habitation module of the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft and micrometeoroid protection plates will be transferred to the competent authorities the next day after [the spacecraft's] landing, when the descent capsule with evidence will be delivered to the manufacturer � Experimental Machine-Building Plant of Rocket and Space Corporation Energia � in the Moscow Region's city of Korolyov, " the source said.

Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft is expected to return to Earth with the International Space Station (ISS) crew on board on December 20, at 8:06 a.m. Moscow time (05:06 GMT).

The spacecraft docked with the ISS on June 8. On August 30, the ISS crew detected an insignificant air leak, caused by a microfracture on a wall of the living section of the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft. The hole was patched on the same day to restore the hermetic integrity of the ISS.