MOSCOW. Dec 12 (Interfax) - Criminal experts investigating the origin of the hole in the upper orbital module of the Russian Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft could draw conclusions by the end of the year, an informed source told Interfax.
"Once the micrometeorite protection elements of the ship that were cut out during the spacewalk are delivered to the Earth on December 20, they, along with a swab sample of the sealing component, will be immediately handed over to criminologists. It is not ruled out that to study the samples taken in space, it might be necessary to resort to microscopic and spectral analysis," the source said.
All necessary lab tests will be carried out as quickly as possible, the source said.
"Information will be collated with the data obtained during the inspection of the Energia Corporation's production premises at Baikonur and Korolyov. Thus, specialists will make initial objective conclusions and have an idea of where the hole came from as early as the last third of December," the source said.
The commission is pursuing all possible lines of inquiry, the source said.
"However, until now specialists have tended to believe that the hole was drilled undeliberately, without malicious intent, during the spacecraft's preparation for the launch from the cosmodrome," the source said.
It has been reported that the parts of the Soyuz MS-09's micrometeorite protection taken by Russian cosmonauts during a spacewalk yesterday contain enough information for criminal experts investigating the hole.